Navigating Gypsy
by Tw1n Rabb1t
Summary: Natsu swore to himself that if he ever found Ultear, or any other mage whose magic dealt with the flow of time, he would beat them up, go back in time, and pound some sense into his past self for being such an idiot... Lucy leaves fic, NaLu, and other pairings. T for language.
1. A star's mercy mission

**_A star's mercy mission._**

* * *

Lucy sat in the masters's office, a distant look in her eyes as she absently wondered why he called her in here. She hadn't done anything wrong - hadn't destroyed any buildings, hadn't pissed off anyone from the magic council, the two biggest taboos in her guild, yet the most frequently broken. And she had plans to take another job, since it wasn't like she could count on her team to help her out anymore.

The look in her eyes moved farther away, and any emotion on her face blanked. Her knuckles whitened as she tightly gripped the hem of her skirt, quiet tears falling from her eyes as her expression did not change.

All those times Natsu had snuck into her apartment, all those times he had rushed after her on the battle field, and all those times he had boldly declared her as his nakama, were little more than fond memories now.

He and the others had dropped her for Lisanna, going on a month-and-a-half-long mission, and all anyone at the Guild would talk about was either about how it was about time those two took a mission together, or how they kicked Tartaros's asses, or that they couldn't believe it would be another year-and-a-half until the next Grand Magic Games due to extensive damages, all of which got very old (and painful) very fast.

Not that anyone besides a handful of people, most of whom were out on missions on a daily basis (Levy, Wendy), or busy with something important (Mira, Cana, Juvia...even though the latter two could be debated) talked to her anymore. It didn't help either that Levy had finally gotten Gajeel to notice how she felt, and they had now formed their own team with Lily.

Don't get her wrong; Lucy was ecstatic for her friend, but she couldn't help but wish that her and Natsu were in the same position. Instead though, the way things were going, it looked like he might have something happening with the youngest Strauss.

That thought made Lucy's heart physically hurt, and caused the tears run down her cheeks thicker and faster than before, her body trembling as she fought to keep herself under control. She had noticed it a while ago - a long, long while ago - but it was something she constantly pushed down, built up until she couldn't keep it in anymore and it all just boiled over with her tears.

_She_ loved him, the idiotic pink-haired dragon slayer that saved her more way times from way more dangers than she could even care to count.

She loved _him_, the happy knucklehead who found her in Hargeon when looking for his missing father, and gave her, the lonely runaway, a home. Friends. Family. Nakama.

She loved him, the clueless dummy who didn't know about her feelings, the one she could not bring herself to hate for abandoning her to go on a quest with another girl 'for old time's sake'.

"Here," a soft voice in front of her said, and Lucy shifted her eyes to see Mavis Vermillion, her guild's first master, handing her a tissue. She hesitantly accepted, first wiping the tears from her eyes and then blowing her nose. Mavis smiled lightly, and Lucy felt her mood lift a bit. "That's better, isn't it?"

Lucy nodded, a small motion, and Mavis gazed sadly from her to the other wizard sitting behind the desk. She and Makarov were worried; everyone in the guild had left Lucy, and they weren't sure why. But they did know this - Lucy had already lost everything once; if it happened again, there was a chance she wouldn't be able to come back from it.

The masters couldn't just tell people to start paying attention to the blonde again, as sad as it was; that wouldn't end well, no matter how they went about it. Best either could figure, it would be a good idea to have Lucy out of the Guild until this blew over, as it was a simpler solution than telling the whole guild to take a vacation.

But first they wanted to make sure she was okay.

"Lucy," Makarov started softly, directing a pair of glazed cocoa eyes to him. "Do you know why I called you here?"

The Celestial Spirit summoner shook her head, causing her blonde locks to swish gracefully around her shoulders. "I don't know, but I can't think of any reason I would be in trouble, master."

The old man felt the corners of his mouth tilt ever slightly. She was one of the more responsible members of his family, after all. "You aren't in trouble, so don't worry about that,"

Lucy's face showed her confusion. "Then why am I here?"

She hadn't been expecting both him and Mavis, who was sitting on the edge of the desk, to bow their heads and hunch their shoulders to her as a sign of apology. "I'm apologizing for the inconsiderate ways in which my other children have been acting in your regard, Lucy." Makarov stated, raising his head again to meet her surprised eyes.

"But we're even sorrier that we can't just tell them to pay attention to you again," Mavis continued, a sad pout on her face and a guilty look in her eyes. "It would be overstepping our boundaries as master,"

Lucy didn't know what to say to that, but she could feel her heart swell with gratitude, and the relief that came with it brought new tears to her eyes, and made her glad she was already sitting, because her knees had sudden gone to jelly. She hiccuped, her marked hand shooting to cover her mouth. "T-thank you, Master, Mavis..."

That little sentence opened the flood gates, and the two masters of Fairy Tail moved from where they sat to wrap the sobbing blonde Mage in a hug, just letting her grab onto their presence as a way to assure her they were there.

A good ten minutes later, Lucy's desperate crying had been reduced to quiet random sniffles as she made her way through the box of tissues Mavis had handed to her; she was not a clean cryer, after all.

As soon as she had fully stopped crying, she could feel Master and Mavis pull back, allowing her to see that they weren't the only ones who had sought to comfort her. Standing behind her masters, was Loke, Capricorn, and Virgo, who was holding what looked to Lucy like several 'Get well soon' cards.

"Hime, it would be better not to cry again," Virgo stated, noticing her masters' eyes filling up for a third time. "Aquarius seemed rather annoyed by your tears, and informed me to punish you if you did not stop,"

"H-hey, Virgo," Loke sweatdropped. He might need to teach his surrogate sister a better way to comfort people. That wasn't the kind of thing you said to a depressed person, no matter how well you knew them, or what someone else said.

It turns out he didn't have to worry though; a beat after Virgo finished talking, Lucy burst out in laughter, her features visibly lightening and the tension fleeing the room.

"I see," the blonde stated, smearing the tear trails on her cheek. "Tell her I'm sorry for making all of you guys worry about me,"

"It's quite alright, Lucy-sama." Capricorn stated, giving Lucy a comforting smile. "We are your Spirits; it is our job, and our _honor_ to protect and make sure that you are okay,"

Loke smirked, gazing down fondly at his key holder. "Couldn't have said it better myself, Lucy. And you know that if you ever need a shoulder to cry on, just say my name, any of our names really, and we'll be there to help you."

Mavis giggled from her spot on Makarov's desk (how Lucy didn't notice either master moving right in front of her was beyond her), bringing the eyes of three spirits and their owner to her. "Isn't it nice to know people care, Lucy?"

The blonde thought for a moment, her mind taking her back to the actions of her guild mates, before nodding her head. "Yeah...it is,"

"Hime, I am sure that everyone still cares," Virgo stated, and Loke dearly hoped she wasn't as blunt as earlier. "They're just letting all they've done in the past few years finally sink in, and they have become so lost in their own thoughts that are acting out of character,"

"What was it you said earlier, Leo?" Mavis asked, a smirk on her lips as she looked between the maid spirit and her summoner. "I couldn't have said it better myself."

Loke snorted, but as the hope in Lucy's eyes reappeared for the first time in days (since Team Natsu talked to her again, only to see if she would let them go on that mission with Lisanna), Loke he couldn't help but help push her on, to get the old her back. "Our guild isn't exactly known for their thinking prowess, Lucy. It's probably going to take forever before they their heads out of their asses, especially that dragon slayer you're so fond of,"

Lucy flushed a bright pink, the color of Natsu's hair, causing a round of chuckles to go through the room. Grumbling under her breath, Lucy took the cards from Virgo, once again thanking her spirits before they went back to the Spirit world, their self-appointed task complete.

As Lucy was about to open the first card on top, which looked to be the one from the aggressive mermaid spirit, Master Makarov cleared his throat. Placing the stack to the side, Lucy promised herself she would read them later.

"Feeling better child?" He asked, already knowing the answer by the refreshed look in her eyes, and the added color to her completion, but he wanted to hear it himself.

"Yes, very. Thank you, though. You and Mavis didn't have to do that,"

"We felt that an intervention was necessary, and I think we made the right choice," he smiled, but all to soon a serious look came over his face, and Lucy felt traces of dread pooling in the pit of her stomach.

"Why do you look so serious, master? I thought you said I wasn't in trouble,"

"You're not; but there is something we still have to ask you."

Lucy looked suspiciously between the two wizards before her. "And that is...?"

"We would like to know if you wanted to take a brake from Fairy Tail for a while, just until you felt truly ready to come back," Mavis stated, and Lucy could say she was a bit blindsided.

Leave Fairy Tail? Why on Earthland would she do that? Her home was here, it was full of her cherished memories, and all her Nakama were here as well! If she just up and left..._they wouldn't know she was gone until someone remembered to look for her_, a small voice spoke from the back of her head. Shocked, Lucy realized what that fully meant; she would be surrounded by all of her precious people, but they wouldn't _acknowledgelookforcarefor_ her for an unknown amount of time, possibly months.

Master and Mavis were giving her there choices.

One, leave now, when she had forgiven her guild and all her emotions were sorted out, making it easier on her friends later on.

Two, leave later, when she felt depressed again as she went on like a ghost in the background, actively trying to severe the ties she had to the cause of her pain.

Or three, stay, and hope that when her friends and fellow guild mates remembered she was in their lives that they could pull her out of whatever hole she would have undoubtedly dug herself into.

It wasn't that hard of a choice. Lucy loved her friends above all else, after all.

"...what would I do while I was gone, though? I don't have the money to put my apartment on hold for long, plus, where would I go?" Lucy asked, weighing her options.

"You could train, expand upon your knowledge and abilities," Mavis offered, before Makarov continued. "I have a few favors I can call in to get you a place to stay, and while you're gone I can send you jobs for money,"

The blonde mulled it over in her head for a second, before nodding. "When would I leave?"

"As soon as I can get the paperwork done and a letter sent, if you want," the short master offered before reaching behind his desk for the needed documents when Lucy muttered 'yes, please.'

"I have a general idea of where he's sending you, so I'll write down the address and the trains you'll need to get there," the young first master chirped, taking a scrap piece of paper and humming as she scribbled something down before holding it out to Lucy.

Lucy took it, noting that she would be taking three separate trains, her final destination being the capital city of Fiore, Crocus. Which, despite her ire at the multiple train switches, confused her.

"I thought the city was destroyed by those dragons?" Lucy asked, looking back at the one who gave her the paper.

"Most of it was, but that doesn't mean that there aren't places to stay," Mavis stated simply.

"I guess you're right... Hey Mavis? What did you mean by expanding upon my knowledge of Celestial magic? I thought that there was only Spirit Summoning, the Heavenly Body magic Jellal uses, and a handful of casting spells," Lucy asked the older girl, racking her brain to see if that was all she knew.

"As far as most people know, that's all there is to it," Mavis said, jumping off the desk and then scanning through the bookcase until her eyes landed on what she was looking for. Raising a hand, two books flew off the shelf, one a deep blue, the other a dark green, and landed in her hands. "But what they don't know is that Celestial Magics are older than Dragon Slaying by several centuries, and you've seen first hand how varied that type of magic is,"

"Um, yeah, but isn't Dragon Slaying an art that goes back more than four-hundred years? I know that reading the celestial bodies of stars and planets dates back to before the time of Fiore, but that doesn't have much to do with the magic..."

Lucy yelped as Mavis dropped the two books on Lucy's lap, and in her frantic squirming to not drop either, noticing that the books were much larger than she originally thought they were. "Look at the green one first," Mavis instructed.

Lucy obliged, shifting the blue one so that the green book was now the one on top. She blinked, staring at the title -

**The Theory of Magic's Origins: Emotion, Nature, and Celestial Magics.**

**Volume One - The Gypsy Mages. **

That wasn't...was it? I've misread it, that's...no, I saw it correctly...but that would mean...

"Gypsy...Mages? Weren't those..." Lucy muttered, terminating her internal monologue, her mind flying back through the years, to the bed time stories her mother used to tell her. They were always fascinating; brave heroes fighting terrible foes to save the day, clever wizards using their abilities to save their villages from calamity, and fearless leaders who lead their people with strong yet fair hands as they moved from place to place...

When she, like any other child, asked her mother, all those years ago, if the people from the stories were real, she could recall vividly what Layla had told her.

_"Hey, mama?" Wide brown eyes looked up into an older pair of the exact same color. It was something Lucy always loved; how much she resembled her mother._

_"Yes, Lucy?" Layla responded, leaning over her daughter's bed to pull the thick pink comforter up to her little chin. Much to the older Heartphilia's amusement, the little girl hesitated, fidgeting under the blanket before finally asking her question._

_"Are...are the people in the story - are the people real, Mama?" _

_Layla blinked, taken back as though she hadn't suspected her daughter to ask that question, and for a brief moment Lucy thought her mother was going to call her silly. But that thought melted as she watched a bright smile overtake the woman's face._

_Layla leaned closer to her daughter as she brushed the flaxen bangs out of her child's face. "Yes Lucy, yes; they were once real, but that was a long time ago...and most people have forgotten about them by now,"_

_"Like Opi- Off-y..." Little Lucy huffed in annoyance, her six-year-old mouth unable to mould the word she wanted to correctly._

_Layla chuckled, knowing what her daughter meant anyway. "Ophiuchus, dear?" She suggested, and watched the annoyed look melt off of Lucy's face._

_"Yeah! Him! The Snake-Bearer star-guy!" She gleefully said, having a small celebration for getting it right, before a look of curiosity similar to the one she had earlier dominated her face. "Why did they forget them, Mama? Off-y-uk-is and the story-people?"_

_Layla giggled at her daughter's antics. "Well, a lot of people didn't exactly like what Ophiuchus stood for, so they took him out of the Zodiacs, and anyone who was seen with his Gate key was believed to bring about a great dishonor or bad luck, so he just kind of faded away from memory," Layla stated sadly, still playing with her daughter's soft hair as she continued. "And those 'story-people' had a name, Lucy, one you'll need to know,"_

_"Why is that, Mama?"_

_Layla smiled, but Lucy wasn't sure why it was so wistful all of a sudden. "While most people have forgotten about them, my family has had a special connection with your 'story-people' for a long time. Meaning so do you, missy!" Lucy giggled at her mother's sudden tickle-attack, trying to fend her off for several minutes until She and Layla regained their composure._

_"What kind of connection do we have with them, Mama?" Lucy asked, her eyes dropping as she finally started falling asleep, the tickle fight taking away most of the energy that had been keeping her awake._

_"The same bond you and I have, Lucy - the bond of blood, the bond of family," Layla said, petting the top of the child's head as she watcher her quickly slipping into sleep._

_"Does...that mean, daddy, too? What's...their name, Mama?" Lucy blinked, her last question cutting off with a yawn making her harder to understand._

_Layla smiled, continuing to just watch over her daughter, feeling contentedness settle over her. "Through his parents, no. But through you, yes, that does make him their family, too,"_

_Lucy nodded, almost asleep when her mother got around to answering her other question, but she really wanted to know the answer, so she had strained her ears to hear the faint whisper said to her as her mother got up to leave._

_"For your other question...Gypsy-Mages, Lucy. Remember them, because it's who we are, you and I. Now, sweet dreams, dear," she felt a soft touch on her forehead, before the sound of footsteps continued. "I'll see you in the morning-bright,"_

Lucy felt her eyes watering at the recollection of her mother and the bonding that memory retold, but she refused to simply let herself cry again. She furiously pushed the salty water out of her eyes, not letting them linger for a second longer than they already had; she had cried way to much already today, and if she really wanted to get stronger, it had to stop.

Oddly enough, her brain suddenly supplied her with the image of Yukino at the Grand Magic Games, summoning the spirit from the cursed gate key. It brought a sardonic smile on her face, as she compared herself to the other Celestial Mage of the GMG.

Yukino had had some pretty rotten luck that day, getting kicked out of her family for losing a cheep fighting match, but it was her former master who ended up getting it worse, later losing both the Game and his guild. Lucy though was not getting kicked out; she was leaving, and it was her nakama that would be on the receiving end of misery soon, with her master getting a stronger Mage out of the deal.

So if that legend her mother had once told her was true, why shouldn't she believe she was Gypsy?

Only... Ophiuchus aside, Lucy hadn't been able to find anything on Gypsy Mages, no matter where she looked or who she asked. Not a single thing, zip, zero, and _nada_. It didn't help that after her mother died, she had just completely given up the search, convinced that it was something that been told just to get her to sleep.

So, if what Mavis had just dropped in her lap (literally) was real...

"Master...Mavis," Lucy asked, her bangs blocking her eyes from the two she had gotten the attention of. "This book...is it accurate?"

Mavis looked surprised, eye brows raised like she wasn't quite sure why that had been asked. Makarov looked much the same. "Yes, it should be, as it was part of my personal collection before I died, and Precht turned most of my old books into a part of the master's collection, with some others going into the guild library. Why do want to know?"

"...just something that Mama told me a long time ago," Lucy said, running her fingers over the smooth, exposed page sides, taking in that this was real and her mom hadn't just spun her a yarn. It was only because her eyes had never left the book since she had seen its title, but towards the last few pages, Lucy swore that the book was glowing. The longer she stared at it, actually, the more certain she was that she needed to open the book to exactly that page.

Watching the blonde hurriedly moving through the book for what seemed to be no good reason, Makarov grew concerned. "Mama? Child, hasn't your mother been gone for nearly fourteen years?"

Lucy flinched, but didn't stop her hands as they flipped through dozens of pages at a time. "Not even a week after I turned ten."

"Then how-" Makarov was cut off, as Lucy finally reached the glowing page, and something happened.

The room exploded into a golden light, temporarily blinding the office's three occupants before receding. The three Mages were left to stare in wonder at the magic runes scrolling up and out of the opened book, reminding Lucy of Fried's magic, and at the same time Hibiki's Archiving abilities.

"This is..." Mavis breathed, reaching out on instinct to examine the scrolling letters, suddenly jerking her hand back as they shocked her. Cradling long her limb, she looked on resolutely at the magic in front of her. "Those are names,"

"Names?" Makarov echoed, moving behind Lucy to get a better look at the words that were still flowing from the book, only instead of being completed they now looked to be configuring themselves from scratch. "You're right, First. But why would this happen after Lucy opened the book?"

Mavis watched the unknown spell for a few moments, before she finally noticed the pattern; the runes at the top of the list, as she figured it was, never changed, indicating it as a title of some sort. And as for the list itself, the characters in the beginning of each row remained the same, and were always followed by a handful of symbols from previous row only...

Suddenly, it clicked. She turned her head to Lucy, looking at the teen with eyes resembling those of an owl.

"I know what this is, and why it reacted to you, Lucy,"

"What...is it," Lucy asked, tearing her eyes away from the golden letters that had held her gaze since shooting out from the book on her lap. She could hardly help it; they were beautiful to look at, and Lucy felt oddly connected to them, even though she wasn't an expert in reading runic letters like Levy or Fried.

"Your ancestry," Mavis stated, looking at the opened book. "Or more specifically, the female ancestry on your mother's side,"

Lucy breathed in sharply, different emotions flashing across her eyes as she looked at the still-scrolling list of names with a new perspective. She felt a small smile form at her lips. "This is a line of Gypsy Mages, isn't it Mavis?"

Makarov's eyes widened when the first nodded, eying the blonde as though mentally drawing new connections. "Yes, it is, and as I'm pretty sure that as soon as your magic came into contact with the previously unknown type of spell I know was stored in that book as an example, the records stored in it updated, scanning your genetics and comparing them to the last entry,"

It was silent for a few moments, the three wizards just watching as the ancestry slowly came to a halt, and sure enough, as confirmed by the first master, read Leading Mage of the tribe, Daughter of Layla Heartphilia - Lucy.

Lucy quirked an eyebrow at what her supposed title read. "I'm the Leading Mage of a tribe?" She scoffed, ignoring the serious looks on her masters' faces. "There aren't any tribes like this around anymore, and even if there were, I don't have the strength to be its 'Leading Mage'."

"Which is exactly why you're going to train until the next Grand Magic Games," Makarov said, and Lucy noted that this was the first time anyone had said anything about how long she would be leaving for.

"Why that long, master? Our guild might not think very much, but that seems a bit extreme for them to simply organizing their thoughts," Lucy stated in slight disbelief, looking at Mavis for back up.

"Oh, it is," the little girl said, and Lucy felt the beginnings of a gloat for, until Mavis continued. "But now we know you need to get a hold on the Gypsy nature of your magic, and it has to be done immediately,"

"... I'm a bit afraid to ask, but why?"

"How about this? Your mother died at twenty-nine because she hadn't known your exact lineage as the leader of your tribe's magic, and her magic's other nature had been slowly eating away at her health. She was a Celestial Wizard until the age of sixteen, three years before she had you, until she reached the point where her control over magic was shot to where she couldn't summon anything anymore," Mavis looked in Lucy's ever widening eyes, and the blonde Spirit Summoner felt worse with every word out of her mouth.

Noticing how uncomfortable she was making one of her guild members, Mavis sighed, easing up on the tension she herself had unintentionally created throughout the room. "I'm sorry, but I wanted you to know the situation you are in. I didn't mean to rant at you,"

Lucy relaxed, closing the opened book on her lap as she noticed it had been opened for too long and casting eerie lighting and shadows on people's faces and around the room. "It fine, but I'm already seventeen, turning eighteen soon. If what happened to my mother is going to happen to me, why hasn't it already?"

At this Mavis smiled. "It would seem that your magic's consistency is better than your mother's, and you've been able to successfully hold off the effects until now. But..."

"If you don't start training now, it will lead to problems further on, no doubt," Makarov finished for her, shuffling against the papers in his hands against the desk until they were in an even pile. "And, speaking of your training...all the documents are signed, waiting to be sent to the council, and I just transported the letter, so now there is only one more thing left to do. Let me see your right hand, child,"

Lucy did as instructed, nervous anticipation in her gut as she knew what was coming; guild regulations decreed it, after all. Still, she couldn't help but blurt her out thoughts as she watched her guild mark be engulfed in a soft glow. "How long will it be gone for?"

Makarov smiled, but it was the sad sort of upward tilt both of them had seen too many times. He was saying goodbye to his child, after all. "Until a few days before the next Grand Magic Games. Or, if you finish your training more than a month early, and you feel indescribably homesick, it will show up sooner,"

The second option sounded much more desirable to Lucy, and she silently swore to herself that she would put all her effort into training to make it happen. Her friends would be so worried about her by that point, she didn't want to imagine what it would be like.

"Now that all that's settled, all you have to do is pack your things and tell your Land Lady to put your apartment on hold!" Mavis chirped, doing her best to lighten the mood. "It would be a good idea to leave a letter with her as well, since I'm sure they'll make a huge racket looking for you later,

Lucy chuckled morosely, already picturing Natsu's face as he did just that. "Good idea. I need an apartment to come back to, after all,"

Master and Mavis laughed, and Lucy took her hand back, staring at the spot on the back of her hand that used to be mostly covered by pink.

_Soon_. She swore to herself, fists clenching as she later exited the master's office, and a few minutes later, the guild hall itself, staring up at the large, bold Fairy Tail sign placed just above the entry way, a frozen February breeze ruffling her jacket and twisting her hair. _As soon as possible, I will be back here. Back home...  
_

* * *

**Ok, so I've read a lot of these stories where Lucy leaves Fairy Tail for one reason or another, and its become such a prominent idea in my head that I've written 4,996 words for the first chapter. Your welcome.**

**I actually got the Gypsy idea from someone I think pulled off a really nice fiction where Lucy leaves, though, I will be putting my own spin on the idea. The name of the story is Replaced, by Basara of Ryther, and it's my favorite of her two FT stories.**

**I totally recommend it as something to read in between this chapter and the next one. So until then, peace!**


	2. A star's quandary

**Chapter two.**

* * *

**A star's quandary.**

* * *

Lucy placed her hands on her hips, forcing her legs to stand straight while she leaned and twisted her spine back into place from the several stupidly long train rides she'd had to take from Magnolia to Crocus.

The only good thing that came with such a voyage was that she managed to read the green book (which had nothing on magic at all, only going into detail about Fiore's history and some guesses at who Gypsy Mages were), and half of the blue one, which happened to be the continuation, and equally as slow.

It was nice keeping her mind occupied though, and off the twisting roller coaster her stomach was turning itself into each second she moved further away from Magnolia. She had honestly thought she would've thrown up had it not been for her ability to focus on tasks at hand.

It had been surprisingly easy to get on the first train, the one she went on directly after telling her land lady where she would be going for the next year-and-a-half, and followed Makarov's advise on leaving a simple letter for her friends (and one specifically for Natsu...), as well as some money for when they undoubtedly broke something.

Before doing that though, packing had turned out to be somewhat interesting. Saying she had a lot of clothes would be an understatement; one of her hobbies was shopping, meaning she of course had lots of items, but common sense said she couldn't take _everything_ with her.

Of course, she had packed for trips before, but the longest mission she had ever been on was just over two weeks, and unless she enchanted her suitcase, she didn't have anything that would hold all the things she would be taking.

So not knowing what to do, she had summoned Virgo, at least hoping to get started on the long task ahead of them. After the hour it took for them to get everything organized and _ready _to pack (the maid spirit made menial tasks like that the easiest thing in the world), Lucy had nearly crushed the spirit with her hug after Virgo offered to take her belongings to the Spirit Realm until they reached their destination.

And now, after five hours on the first train, three hours on the second, and four and a half on the third and final, she was standing in the train station's landing in the capital Crocus, the piece of paper with directions Mavis had given her in hand.

She looked around, noting the mid-morning rush of travelers, most of whom looked as bedraggled as she felt. She had left the guild at around seven at night yesterday, meaning now, at nine-thirty in the morning, she had been up for somewhere around twenty four hours.

This was _such_ a good way to start a year of training, bags under her eyes and her feet shuffling against the ground as she walked around a city laden with half-ruined buildings and loud construction noises.

She could feel the migraine coming coming on already...she really hoped she got to wherever Mavis had written down soon.

"Make a left here...down this alleyway until you find an exit to the right, three buildings forward...follow the canal until it ends, and I should...be...there..." Lucy looked up from her paper, feeling her eye twitch and her arm drop as deadweight, dangling at her side as she stared incredulously at the building in front of her. She was _way _to tired for this. "The _palace_!? How in your name did this happen, Mavis!? Master!?"

She continued her triad in front of the grand building for two minutes, until an uneasy looking palace guard decided to do his job and walked up to her.

"Eto, um, miss?" He flinched, having just gotten a taste of the killing intent only three people were capable of putting off; Mirajane, Erza, and her. But, unfortunately for Lucy, this guard did not run away screaming like she wanted. Instead, he rushed through the rest of his inquisition. "W-what is your business at the palace!"

Lucy sighed, letting go of most of her irritation, much to the man's immediate relief, and instead dug through the bag at her side for the one form master Makarov had handed her before she left; an official guild notice that the Mage whose name was on it had full support of the guild whose name was it. In this case, Lucy and Fairy Tail.

The guard snapped to attention upon seeing the slip, motioning for several other of his coworkers nearby to open the gate for her, and informing Lucy that he was going to personally send word to the King of her arrival.

After waiting for a few minutes until her guard came back, Lucy realized that it might take a while. So instead of standing outside the already opened gates like a gaping fool, she passed into the castle's domain. Looking around the palace lawn, Lucy spotted what she was looking for; a bench where she could sit and read while she waited.

Taking out her blue book, Lucy rubbed her shoulder in delight. Whoever first said bookworms were weak had obviously never met one as hard core as Levy or Lucy.

Turning over the cover, the blonde effortlessly flipped to the page she had marked with a pink slip of cloth, continuing where she left off with the book explaining - _finally_ - how Gypsy Mages developed and used magic.

It was a rather complex series of events involving, from what Lucy could tell, highly stressful situations where the overpoweringly strong emotions of a person gave birth to - back then - phenomenal events and/or abilities that turned the balance of power.

After such events, the theory stated that the people - after they snapped out of their shock - were strongly reminded of the unexplained things they saw every day in the natural world, ranging from strange mushrooms that grew out of your head if you ate them (to which, Lucy and her team - _ex-_team had some experience with), to the multitude of abilities that dragons utilized.

It started a whole now era in the use of magic, dozens of more abilities appearing everyday it seemed, until they made yet another connection, only this time to the stars.

This was the part Lucy was looking forward to reading about - the part that might give her hints about how to get control over the Gypsy nature of her magic, since Celestial magic was her element.

Speaking of elements, that reminded her of the water magic she gained by breaking Aquarius's gate key. Maybe it was still a form of Celestial magic? It wasn't originally her magic after all, and she wasn't naturally attuned to water magic, meaning she had no business using it and would have been unable to do so in the first place unless it _was_ a form of Celestial magics...

Lucy shook her head, clearing the partially irrelevant thought from her head. If it was a part of her Celestial magic, than she could apply whatever training she would be doing later to it as well. But first she had to keep reading...

Ok, right, she was at the part where her ancestors started relating things to celestial bodies and constellation?

The book stated that upon noticing the connection the stars had how people felt and what was going on in the world around them, they tried to see if they could harness their unique abilities, leading to the creation of the Twelve Golden Gates (Lucy flinched, feeling bad for her choice, but not regretting it in the slightest), and magics that harnessed the power of the night sky through both action and incantation.

Lucy spent the next ten minutes reading, rereading, and rereading again that chapter and the next two, bitter annoyance building up on top of an exhausted state of mind. She grit her teeth, her murderous intent flaring out once again.

There was _nothing_ on how use the Gypsy part of her magic at all! The only thing that was even _remotely_ helpful was when the stupid book mentioned in passing about the Gypsy Mages using their culture to somehow control the magical energy in and around them.

Lucy slammed the book closed, using it to hit her forehead as a sudden realization struck her. How was she supposed to learn about her Gypsy nature if the only people who had ever used it were long since dead? The book had nothing on the 'how's or 'why's, only talking about a theoretical 'what' that Lucy was only going to believe because it was the only thing she had to got off of, and her first guild master had said it was accurate.

She sighed. Maybe Capricorn would know? He was one of her mother' something trusted spirits, after all, and he seemed to know her magic inside and out...

Hearing the slowly approaching crunch of footsteps on the gravel path leading to and from the palace, Lucy lowered book, eyes and head turning towards the sound. A second later, skull met leather binding for a second time.

Didn't they have butlers and maids to do this kind of stuff for them? Lucy had been somewhat hoping to put off meeting the royal father-daughter duo until later during her stay at their palace (growing up in a mansion with other noble's coming and going for business negotiations all the time, Lucy knew exactly how possible it was for something like that to happen) because the last time Fairy Tail had met the king...

"I hope you're friend's enjoying the crown he took-kabo!" The king cried, protectively holding the new piece of headwear closer to his cranium, eyes darting around their surroundings, as though waiting for Natsu to pop out and take it from him again.

The princess rolled her eyes at her father's actions, and Lucy had to say she looked very different from the last two times she saw her, but then again, both times they were either in life and death peril, or at a formal reception. Either way, quite memorable.

Lucy laughed, a sound that was both tired and nervous. "You don't have to worry, sir; Natsu isn't with me, and he won't be coming later, either."

The king nodded, letting go of his new crown as he got a look at the book she was reading. "Already getting a start on the reading part of your training-kabo? I thought we would start with my entertaining training method-kabo,"

Lucy scratched the back of her head, not sure how to respond to that. "Er...sorry?"

Hisui sighed, pinning both Lucy and her father a deadpan look. "Don't encourage him, please; even if you are one of his subjects, if you ever hear him tell you to join an 'entertaining' _anything_, ignore him,"

Lucy smiled as the king gave his heir a look that was both shocked and comically-hurt, which was ignored. "I'll see, but it seems like I might have to since you guys appear to be in charge of my training,"

The mood in the air sifted towards the more serious side as both the king and princess straightened. Hisui narrowed her eyes at the book Lucy was holding, and the blonde figured she was trying to see what it was. "That's correct, we are going to be the ones directing your training, since we still owe you personally for stoping the Eclispse project,"

Lucy felt a blush come over her face at the mention of her and her companion's actions during that time. "It wasn't much, really; all the Dragon Slayers did more than Yukino and I..."

Hisui shook her head and the Celestial mage's modesty. "Whatever you say, but we're not going to get anything done if we just stay out here and chat all day. Me and Papa will show you to your room, and I'd say we would have someone help you unpack, but you don't seem to have any luggage..."

Lucy smirked, patting the keys on her belt as she stood up from her temporary seat, and headed towards the awaiting castle. "I have that all settled, so don't worry about that,"

"Good-kabo, but know that as soon as you're done, you're starting my training-kabo!" And with that last declaration, the king marched away in the opposite direction the two girls were going, leaving them in the spacious castle entry way alone.

Hisui sighed fondly, lightly taking Lucy by her elbow and directing her towards the sloping stair case. "Your quarters are upstairs, and just so you know, you'll be in the same wing as my father and I,"

Lucy was a bit surprised that the royal family of all people were letting her, a Mage they had only met three times, maximum, stay so close to them. "Um, Hisui-san, if you don't mind me asking, why are the members of the royal family letting me stay so close by, and going as far to help me train, even if you _did_ owe my guild,"

The green haired girl gave Lucy a thoughtful look. "Well, for starters, as a member of a guild in Fiore, it is unofficially your job to serve the royal family and obey the council, the former of which you demonstrated during the time after the Grand Magic Games," Hisui explained, pausing as they were maneuvered around by a pair of maids, cheery 'hellos' and 'good day, princess' passing between both parties.

"Secondly, it was only due to you and Yukino-san closing the gate when you did that we're even here speaking today," Hisui continued, and Lucy didn't think she was going to let that favor she (supposedly) owed the blonde go anytime soon. "Adding to that, we have the largest Library in Fiore, with more access to that," she pointed to the book Lucy still had in her hand. "Than anywhere else,"

It clicked. "So the reason I couldn't find anything on Gypsy Mages earlier was because all the records were relocated to the palace?"

Hisui nodded. "Yeah, because if people found an '_easy_' way to the original magic, it would be chaos. Not to mention, you need to be a direct descendant of the Leading Mage for the tribe to get most of the spells to work in the first place, and that's without adding the cultural base to it that makes the magic easier to use,"

Lucy looked at the book, then back to the princess, one slender eyebrows raised. "You seem to know a lot about this stuff; these books have only just touched on the possibility of the Gypsy culture adding to the outcome of the magic,"

Hisui snorted, then quickly smacked a hand over her mouth, eyes wide as she looked at Lucy. "Please don't tell anyone I just snorted; it's considered rude for the princess to do..."

Lucy made a zipping motion with her fingers over her lips, a knowing twinkle in her eyes as she remembered the stiff manners and customs of the rich and wealthy. Now that was something she had no reservations about leaving.

The royal jade smiled in relief, answering Lucy's question. "Right, so yeah, I've studied this stuff for most of my life, because my mother came from the non-magic wielding part of the tribe. While I can't cast any spells, and you not being able to use very many, we'll probably be more focused on expanding your knowledge on what magic is what and how to counter them,"

Lucy scrunched up her eye brows, taking a second to pick apart and digest what the princess had just said, before giggling, which almost slowly evolved into belly-laughter. Hisui looked at her over her shoulder, confused. "Sorry, but... I would have thought Master Makarov had told you in his letter, since he sent it after that..."

The princess raised an eyebrow. "Told me what? After _that _what?"

Shaking her head, Lucy thought she should just show the princess instead of explaining it. Holding out the blue book for Hisui to hold, Lucy maneuvered around her bag for its prequel. "I'll show you as soon as I find that book...ah! There it is,"

Flipping the book over, Lucy opened it the wrong way, having found it was after than going through the whole book for a single page towards the back. Finding the sought after page, Lucy gently placed over the obviously runic language that looked somewhat out of place, and pumped a small amount of magic into it.

Lucy had tested this out during her horrendously long train-riding marathon, when she had run out of patience for the book's educational content and needed something to do. Her efforts proved themselves fruitful, as the glowing golden list shot out of the pages, automatically going to her name at the very bottom.

Hisui looked at it, impressed, but not knowing what significance it held, not the reason the Celestial Mage had for showing it to her.

Lucy, seeing this, focused more magic into her hand, moving it over the runes as they now changed to the standard written language of Fiore. Hisui, now being able to what was in front of her, sucked in a sharp breath, taking a startled step backwards.

"T-that...s-so, you are..."

"If you're trying to say that I'm going to be able to learn those spells you mentioned earlier, than yes, yes I am," Lucy said, a bit smug at the reaction she got out of the green haired girl, closing the book, thereby canceling the active spell, and put away both books back into her bag.

Hisui blinked, looking like she was making several mental adjustments. "I'm going to have to rethink your training, now,"

"Sorry, but hey; speaking of training, you never did tell me why you and your father agreed to do it. Train me, I mean,"

Hisui didn't respond right away, most likely gathering her thoughts, so the girls just continued walking (how big _was_ this castle, anyway?) while Lucy waited for a response. "Most of my reasons for helping you train probably have to do with my friendship with your late father, and, once again, earn your forgiveness for letting lose the Eclipse project,"

Lucy nodded, not hurt in the slightest that the princesses loyalties lied with her father, but she did have to resist groaning when Hisui mentioned Eclipse. She put on a strained smile. "I keep telling you, that's not necessary; I didn't do much in the first place, and you only though what you were doing was best for your people,"

Lucy watched as a soft smile graced the face of the other girl, and she was glad to know that she had helped ease the guilt the royal jade had no doubt put herself into. In the companionable silence that followed, Hisui continued leading Lucy to her room in the palace, passing by both maids and butlers as they made their rounds, always giving both girls a friendly welcome.

Suddenly, Hisui stopped walking in front of a large oak door, and the action was so unexpected that Lucy nearly crashed into her. Hisui smirked in amusement. "This is your room then, Lucy-san. If you need anything, I, am in the room right across the hall,"

"Um...ok?" Lucy sweatdropped. This went back to what she had been saying earlier; the royal family's blind trust in her, while highly flattering, was a little unnerving.

Waving to her new hall-mate, Hisui turned around, heading into her own room, and Lucy figured she should get settled so that she could take a nap; while her conversation with the princess had kept her alert and awake, she was still so tired she might just crash while setting her bed.

Pushing past the thick slice of wood, Lucy did a quick once-over of the space where she' debt living for the next year. It was spacious, about the size of her apartment back home, wallpaper the color of fresh-cut pink roses, which she had to admit contrasted nicely with the dark wood furniture and deep red carpet.

Walking into the small seating area placed at the front of the room, Lucy placed her carrying bag down on the low set coffee table. After rolling back her shoulders to get the kinks out, she grabbed a particular gate key.

"Virgo!" She shouted, and a split second later the Celestial maid made her appearance in a cloud of pink smoke, all of her owner's belongings stacked behind her.

"Is it punishment time, hime?" She asked.

"No, it's not!" Lucy immediately yelled, having pre-conditioned her response long ago. "Do you think you could help me get things set up, though?"

The pink haired girl gave a stout nod. "Yes, hime,"

If Lucy had thought that packing the first time had gone fast, she had turned her back for ten minutes to make the bed (which, thankfully she did not take an unexpected nap on), only to turn around and see that the Spirit had already placed her books and nicknacks on all the shelves, and was currently in the process of color coordinating her closest and dresser.

The blonde smiled. She had absolutely no idea what she's do without her spirits, period. "Thanks for your help, Virgo. You can go back when you finish,"

The usually stoic maid's lips tilted ever so slightly at the corners, but Lucy saw it anyway. The spirit bowed. "Yes, hime."

Said 'princess' shook her head. The spirit would never stop calling her that, no matter what she tried, or how much time passed between them. Walking back over to where she'd put down her bag, Lucy moved through it until she found what she needed.

Sitting down on the small sofa that sat across the table from it's twin, Lucy placed the majority of the letters down next to her, the one she believed was from Aquarius in her hands already.

The young Gypsy didn't know how much time had passed before Hisui knocked on her door for lunch, her attention so solely focused on the cards that each one of her spirits had taken the time to write her, even if Aquarius's had been a harsh reminder of her current love life, punctuated with a demand she at least use the water magic brought about from breaking the key. But hey, that was the mermaid spirit for you.

"So did you get everything squared away?" The royal jade asked, once again walking a little bit ahead of Lucy as she lead the blonde to the dining area where they would be served. The king would not be joining them, Lucy had been told, since he had other duties to attend to at the moment.

"Hmm, yeah I did, but I was so wrapped up in reading the cards my spirits got me I couldn't take a nap," Lucy stated, trying to stifle a yawn.

"That's nice, that your spirits send you cards," Hisui said.

Lucy chuckled lightly. "Yeah, but they were worried. It's not like spirits usually send their user cards, but I guess they consider me a friend."

"Why were they worried for you?" Hisui wondered aloud, then quickly scrambled for more words as the blonde sadly averted her gaze. "Ah! You don't have to answer that I'd you don't want to, Lucy-san,"

Lucy smiled a little. "It's fine, Hisui-san. But I think it may be a story for another time. So what part of my training are you in charge of?"

Glad for a change in subject, the princess spoke with vigor. "Well, as you can figure, Papa is going to be in charge of one aspect of your physical training, mainly fighting. And if I know him, he'll make it as entertaining for himself to watch as possible, so you have your work to cut out for you because he _loves_ fighting,"

Lucy giggled, her mind instantly bringing up a picture of her favorite Dragon Slayer and her battle-happy guild. "That leaves what part of my training to you?"

"I have your book study, and the other part of your physical training which, since we know you can actually use the spells I was going to teach you from the books, you're going to learn how to cast them."

"And that means...?" Lucy said, only remembering that casting Gypsy spell casting had something to do with the culture.

"You're going to learn how to street-dance, basically, while wearing traditional Gypsy clothes," Hisui winked, taking amusement from her companion's mortified look, but she wanted to push it one step further. "And I'm sure that your boyfriend will _love_ to see this later when you get back to Fairy Tail,"

Oh, that did it all right. The blonde exploded into furious stutters, her face a glowing red and arms windmilling around her as she stared at the princess in both shock and embarrassment. "H-how, did you know!?"

Hisui smirked. "You have the look of a girl pining over a boy. So, I want to know who. Is he in your guild? Is he from another guild you know? Is he a wizard?"

Lucy let out a helpless laugh. She wasn't at all insulted by her companion's nosiness with her love life; in fact, she understood the craving to act like a girl her own age, worrying about things like boys and shopping instead of one day taking over the Konzern/country, like the heiresses they were/are. And for all Makarov and Mavis had been there for her, they wouldn't quite be able to wrap their heads around that of a teenaged girls'.

"Yes, he's in my guild, so of course he'd be a Mage...a rather powerful one at that..." The blonde trailed off, remembering all the times she had just watched Natsu take down a villain and thought just that.

Hisui looked at her, a calculating look in her eyes. "Powerful, huh? Did he participate in the Games?"

Lucy nodded. "Uh-huh,"

Thinking back to what she had seen of the matches, Hisui knew all the male Fairy Tail Mages to participate in the games were extremely strong. The hint didn't help much, so she tried thinking about the _actions_ Lucy's male guild members had taken where she was involved. Two came to mind.

"Is your boyfriend Grey Fullbuster, or Natsu Dragneel by any chance?" The royal jade asked, noticing the blonde next to her blush harder at the second name. _Bingo_...she thought. "You're dating Natsu Dragneel, '_The Salamander_', Fire Dragon Slay-"

"Shh!" Lucy hissed, clamping one hand over Hisui's mouth as she furtively darted her eyes around the hallway they were in, trying to see if anyone besides her had heard the outburst. She sighed in relief, removing her hand. "We're not dating, firstly. Secondly, even if he did know about how I felt, he has someone else for him already,"

The princess studied the sad expression on the blonde for the next few moments as they made their way down the hall. Then, she thought of something. "He's part of the reason you left to train, isn't it?"

Lucy but her lip, but nodded nonetheless. Maybe in the next few days, or in the next coming weeks she would tell the princess about her plight; but for now, she _really_ just didn't want to talk about it again. Just because she had organized her thoughts and feelings over the event didn't mean she was willing to preach it to the world, and no matter what she and Hisui and been through during the Eclipse Gate incident, she had hardly spoken to the girl for more than and hour, tops.

Noticing that the blonde was still edgy of the subject, Hisui let it drop. Walking in silence, the only time either spoke before reaching the dining area was when Lucy had a question, Hisui felt the need to point out something with historical importance.

Later, after they had been fed and watered (Lucy noted that the food was just as good as the last time she had eaten at the palace), Hisui walked her back to her room so that she might change into something for her first physical training session, stating that she would help Lucy around the castle for the first few days until she got it down herself.

Having changed from her mini skirt and tank top into a pair of Heart Kruez workout shorts and tee, Lucy tugged her hair into a pony tail. She did a mental once over, making sure she had everything ready to go.

Maybe it was because she had never planned to train this seriously for this long in her life, but she felt that the moment she took a step out the door, there wouldn't be any going back. True, she probably have felt that way when Makarov had told her to hold out her hand, or when she had boarded the train back in Magnolia, but for some reason, when she was already dozens of miles from home, did she feel like something was going to happen that would change her.

Key belt?

_Check._

Actual Gate Keys?

_Check again._

Sneakers and active wear?

_Check, and check._

Lucy sighed, realizing that she was stalling. She could go on with this all day, and that wouldn't get her anywhere. Smacking her cheeks sharply, Lucy let the sharp sting clear her thoughts and refocus her attention.

It was too late for her to go back, and here she was, with the _royal family_ of all the people in Fiore being the ones to help her train, with her dithering wasting their valuable time. She was better than that, and she had already showed that when she had walked out of her family twelve hours ago.

"Yosh," the blonde said, her hands fisting on either side of her broad hips, a fire in her eyes that hadn't been there a second ago. She walked towards the door, her mind briefly flickering to the faces of her friends, lingering longest on Natsu's, before she smiled. "I wonder when they'll come looking for me..."

* * *

**Um, yeah, so to my first reviewer- I am so sorry, but this fanfiction isn't going to either a Sticy or a Rolu fic. I've made changes to the summary so that other readers will know what they are getting into, but yeah, I should have done that before publishing anything. This fanfiction is now labeled as Nalu.**

**So yeah, on a different note, who's ready for school to start again? Not me; I just got my muse to write back, and I want it to stay for longer this time! Curse you the void of creativity I call my school! Y U BLOCK !? Y!? SO MANY OF US READ IT!**

**And calm. If you could not tell, I don't always enjoy going to school. But they can't stop me if I write the chapters on an approved program, MUAHAHAHAHA! I shall get you all your next chapter, and it shall have Natsu and the others in it!**


	3. A fire's affliction

**Chapter three**

* * *

**A fire's affliction.**

* * *

**Wow...fanfiction is not being nice to this chapter - this is third time I've re uploaded this, so I don't know what to say if you can't see it or not. But then again, you can't see this in the first place if the site continues acting up.**

* * *

Two months later...

Mavis, Makarov, and most of the Mages in the guild sat from their various places around their beloved guild hall, watching what had to be one of the strangest things in their lives. And that was saying something, with three talking cats (one of which was blue) that could fly, and several people who ate things that would kill a normal person in huge quantities everyday as members.

"Third..." Makarov said from his perch on the second story railing next to the ghost of his guild's founder. "How much longer do you think we should stall before telling him where she is?"

The girl considered it for a second, a hand placed pensively on her chin as she tilted her head back to look up at the ceiling. "Hmm... I think we should do it right before he snaps, which at this rate could wither be a few hours, or a few minutes. It depends,"

Makarov was almost afraid to ask what variable the little genius was considering. "And what would it depend on?"

Mavis smirked, moving her head to look at the Giant Mage, then down at the steaming Fire Dragon Slayer that had parked himself on the bar space right in front of the huge guild doors nearly a week ago. "On how serious he is about taking Lucy as his mate within the next few years,"

Makarov sputtered, inwardly cursing himself for unknowingly (and literally) playing with fire. He doubted the girl's prediction to be wrong, but if what she said was true...he was screwed. Big time, with the damages he might have to soon fix within his guild making him want to hug his wallet out of sympathy.

Mavis giggled, watching as Makarov's soul flew out of his mouth and hovered somewhere around the ceiling. "Don't worry, Makarov. As soon as you tell him she left, he's going to rush out of the guild, and to her apartment to see if it's true. The guild is safe...for now,"

Makarov sighed in relief, soul flying back into his body and hand over his heart as he narrowly avoided a panic attack. He then straitened, turning back to the up-coming problem as an intense heat wave made him and everyone in the room start sweating. And it kept getting hotter, too. "I'll take that as my cue then, before someone has a heatstroke,"

He jumped from the railing, landing a few lengths away from the pink-haired boy, and making enough noise to draw said boy's attention away from his heated glaring contest with the doors. "Natsu, do you think you could stop the heat? Someone's going to pass out like this,"

There were several shouts of approval from around the guild, but Natsu completely ignored them, dark eyes zeroing in on the guild Master instead. Makarov dully noted that they had the look of an annoyed predator, one that had gotten fed up of waiting patiently for his quarry.

"Gramps," Natsu spoke, his voice holding the barest edges of a growl to it. "Where is she?"

Makarov pretended not to have heard him, digging a pinky into his ear as people around the guild gasped and whispered excitedly. _Natsu_, of all people was getting upset over a _girl_? This was new.

"Who?"

Natsu actually let loose a growl this time, releasing another dose of raw heat, the air around him starting to shimmer. To everyone around him, it was obvious that he wasn't in the mood for any bullshit. "Don't play coy, Gramps. Where's. Lucy?"

"Hmm..." Makarov grunted, crossing his arms as though he was deep in thought. He sat there for a moment, listening to his other children talk, all of them having just realized that _absolutely no one_ had seen the blonde girl in a few days. "Can't say I know,"

This was the wrong thing to say, apparently, since not even five seconds afterwards Natsu's body exploded into flames, making almost everyone take one or more steps back out of instinct.

"How could you _not_ know where she took a mission at!? You're the parent aren't you!?" The Salamander was a bit hard to understand since he was now speaking in growls, and his flames roared in everyone's ears.

"She didn't take an official mission," Mavis stated, suddenly appearing behind the current master and butting her way into the highly-consequential situation. "She took a personal one, which is why when you asked Mira about it when you got back, she didn't know,"

The effect was immediate, as the angry flames died down - taking most of the heat with it, much to the rest of the guild's relief - and Natsu was left with his skin steaming, a now very grumpy look in his eyes. "Then where did she go without telling anyone? The Akane Resort?"

Mavis blinked, then giggled, picking up on the Dragon Slayer's idea. "Nope; she said she was going training, not relaxing! And even if me or Makarov knew where she was, neither of us would say a word since forgiveness has to be earned,"

Now Natsu - and everyone in the guild listening in on the exchange - were now very confused. What was the first master going on about about forgiveness for?

It was Wendy who called them out.

"Um, Mavis-san?" The blue haired girl asked from where she stood next to Romeo and Charl, drawing all of the eyes in the guild to her. She 'eep'd, shrinking back slightly as she took over the lime-light, but quickly regained her composure. She never was very good with crowds, or public speaking for that matter. "W-what did you mean by earn Lucy's forgiveness? Did we offend her somehow?"

Mavis let a sad smile creep up on her face, the eyes of everyone once again going back to her as though following a tennis match. Neither her nor Makarov's serious expressions did anything to ease their growing tensions.

"Tell me," the girl said, sweeping her eyes across the room, and holding on the pink haired boy who was sitting on the bar with her. "When was the last time anyone had spoken to Lucy, as in an actual conversation?"

She waited, listening as her guild members thought out loud about the last time what she talked about had happened.

She watched, as a dawning look of revelation spread itself across Natsu's face, his eyes widening and his mouth parting. He was smarter than most people often gave him credit for, after all.

"It was..." Wakaba thought out loud, taking the pipe out of his mouth so he could be heard clearly. And everyone could hear the horror in his voice. "Just before Team Natsu and Lisanna left on a mission two months ago."

It was dead silent in the normally rowdy guild hall, and unless there was a sound for dozens of eyes widening in shock, the only thing that could have been head was the labored breathing of a certain salmon-haired Mage.

And then it broke, as panic set in and a flood of people all tried to exit the guild at once, shouting and cursing as everyone in the rush was punched and jostled around. It was complete madness, but before anyone could successfully leave the building, a shout loud enough to rattle the building held all but three in their tracks.

Natsu was almost moving fast enough to be considered a blur, using both tables and people's heads as means to catapult himself over the mob and out the door, Happy flying right behind him as they both hurried to tell their favorite blonde that they were sorry, neither knowing she was already several months-gone.

Grey and Erza had taken a different approach to get through the mob, Erza riding on the back of her teammate's Ice Make magic as he built a path for them above the heads of their guild. As soon as they were out the doors though, they hit the ground, already hot on the Dragon Slayer and blue Exceed's tail as their more logical minds were temporarily overshadowed with worry for their final team member.

Makarov grunted, eyeing the rest of his children as they all stared Mirajane with rapt attention as her loud shouting had demanded. He had no doubt that she was going to try and clarify matters with him for both her sake, and the others.

"If you had all been listening to Master and Mavis earlier, then you would know already that Lucy left Magnolia," Mira stated calmly, though everyone could see the tension lining her jaw. "The whole guild rushing over to her house would send the town into a panic,"

Her reasoning was at least enough to disband the mob, but the air was heavy with both unanswered questions and morbid guilt over the entire event. Especially for a petite blue haired Script Mage, who had been restrained from running into the mass of Fairy Tail Mages trying to leave at once by the strong arms of her boyfriend around her waist.

"But, Lu-chan is more important that the town!" Levy stated loudly, still trying to escape the iron grip she was in. "She's our family, and we're the only family she has left, I might add!"

"We know, shrimp," Gajeel stated, watching the girl struggle in his arms, but not planning on letting her go until she either calmed down, or burst into tears, where he would just change how he was holding her. "But none of us know where she went, and you running out there with Salamander won't bring her back anytime soon,"

"But I have to _try_," Levy said, her eyes swimming with tears soon to be shed. "And I might find a clue to where Lu-chan went, at the very least!"

"Levy," Makarov said, bringing the attention of the blue haired girl to him. "If Lucy wanted anyone to know where she was, she'd have told them. For now, until we hear from her again, we should leave her alone to organize her thoughts and train in peace."

She slumped in defeat, letting Gajeel lower her slacked body to the ground, a worried Jet and Droy hovering over his shoulder.

They, and the rest of the guild except for the two masters, only hoped that Team Natsu came back soon. And that they found and brought back something to tell them where their favorite blonde was, no matter what their master said.

* * *

Natsu didn't think he'd ever run so fast in his. Not during any battle, not during any competition, and not even when Igneel had vanished. He flew down the cobble stone streets of Magnolia, citizens either hurriedly moving out of his way or risking getting mowed over by him and the two others tailgating behind.

What master said couldn't be right...he had to be wrong...Natsu refused to believe that _his_ Luce, _his_ partner, _his_ best friend was gone, that she would leave him without a single word.

He was going to run to her house - something he should have done long ago, when he had first gotten a heavy feeling in his stomach about Lucy's absence - go into her room, and find the blonde there, surprised at first to see him, then angry at his using her window and not the door, and then he would make her laugh at his stupid jokes and idiotic actions.

It was all just one giant prank, her leaving. And he would prove that when he dragged Lucy back to the guild and they all laughed about it.

Seeing her house not ten feet away, Natsu jumped from the ground to the open window on the second floor, not breaking stride as he touched down and waited for the 'Lucy-Kick' that could only mean his best friend was home and happy to see him.

It never came.

"She's not here, Natsu!" Happy yelled, having come in right behind his pink-haired partner and flying around the room in a quick search.

"She has to be!" He growled back, taking off towards the bathroom, then kitchen. "Check the cabinets and her closet! She's probably hiding or something."

Happy nodded, pruning on a brave face, quickly checking in the places Natsu told him to, then snapping his head around when he heard the door bang open. The Salamander quickly joined him, rushing out of his search area, hopeful expressions on their faces.

The looks dropped though, as it was just Erza and Grey coming to help them. The redhead looked around the still-semi neat apartment, noting the dust on furniture and swirling in the disturbed air, her mouth a grim line.

"You two haven't found her?" Grey asked, pushing his way past the still Erza.

Natsu bowed his head, eyes shadowed and fists clenching at his side. This was not happening. This could not happen. She was supposed to wait for him to come back, wait for him to finally make his move, and not...

An armored hand fell on his shoulder. "Let's see if we can find any clues as to where she went,"

Grey and Happy nodded, heading off in different direction. Natsu shrugged her hand off, turning towards the desk to look through the blonde's papers.

After tearing apart the residence for ten minutes, the remaining members of Team Natsu still hadn't found anything useful that would tell them where Lucy had gone. The room around them wasn't the neat, orderly albeit dusty home it had been before their arrival, different articles having been displaced and strewn about.

Grey was the first to speak, the disappointed and depressed air coiling around each individual in the room, weighing them down. "It doesn't look like she left anything for us..."

It was the wrong thing to say. Natsu, practically cloaked in the blackness each of their moods was generating, punched the closest thing - the wall, thankfully - before Grey could even blink.

"Natsu..." Happy muttered, worried. It wasn't like his friend to lash out at things for no reason, but then again, Happy wouldn't dare call the disappearance of the Celestial Mage something small. On second thought, the blue feline was surprised the fire Mage hadn't already burned something down at the mention of his lost loved one.

The four Mages stood in place, each lost to their own thoughts when the door opened again. They rushed to the sitting area in the apartment's entry way, eagerness brimming on their faces as the door opened to reveal, unfortunately not Lucy, but her land lady.

"Well, don't look so happy to see me," the old woman said, raising a brow at the suddenly downcast faces before her. "I came here because of the noise complaints next door. What are you four doing here?"

Erza, being the one usually in charge and with a more level head than either of the boys at the moment, answered for them. "We came here looking for our friend, but it would seem we missed her..."

The land lady nodded. "I'll say you did, by about two whole months! I tell you, I almost didn't give her that holding lease because of the last time. But, that's not to say she just up-and abandoned you. I have the letters she wrote right here, if you guys want them,"

As soon as she took the two envelopes from the purse at her side, presenting them with a flourish, they were snatched from her hand by an apprehensive son of Igneel.

"This one's addressed to the guild, and the other..." Natsu read the backs of both parchments, eyes widening and speech dying on his tongue. "Is for me."

The three others stiffened, then relaxed as a new plan of action arose. Erza reached out an armored hand, palm upward.

"We'll take the one letter to the guild," she explained at the pink haired boys confused expression. "You and Happy can go home if you want and read your letter there. We'll tell everyone else where you went,"

Natsu nodded, and without another word dejectedly headed out the window - Happy right behind him - much to the land lady's chagrin.

"He does realized there is a perfectly good door over there, doesn't he?"

Eza and a Grey smirked, despite themselves. "Flame-brain's always been like that I guess...especially about Lucy,"

* * *

Natsu swore to himself that if he ever found Ultear or another wizard whose magic dealt with the flow of time, he would beat the ever-loving shit outta them so they could send him back in time, just over two months, so that he could beat the ever-loving shit out of _himself, _for being an absolute _goddamnedfool_.

It had been several hours since he had returned to his bungalow in the woods, and he and Happy having read Lucy's letter a first time. And then a second time, just so that they understood they had read it correctly.

Happy had, promptly, bawled his eyes out about the whole thing, falling asleep shortly thereafter, his emotional energy spent and gone. Honestly speaking, Natsu had run out of energy the moment Wakaba told everyone when the last time anyone had spoken to Lucy was.

He should have joined Happy in dreamland ages ago, but his mind wouldn't let him, tossing and turning the letter's content around and around, each rotation making him feel more and more like scum, and like his heart was going to shatter into dozens of little shards.

_Too weak for him, for the team,_ she said? Strength wasn't always physical, which was something his family had showed him time and time again, and Lucy was by far one of the strongest people spiritually he had ever meet. Not to mention she had more raw magic than him and Grey combined, which said something for how minimally strenuous her training usually was.

_She was happy he'd found someone like Lisanna_, she said? Lisanna was like a sister to him, one he had missed horribly, and one whose lost had been devastating to hear about. Going on that mission had been a great way to catch up, but during the trip all he could think about was that _she wasn't Luce_. He'd been brought to Lisanna and the rest of his family; he'd found Lucy, that day in Hargeon so long ago.

_She loved him_, she said? He could almost hear the strings holding his wounded heart together straining as hollow aches resonated behind his sternum.

Despite what a lot of the people around him might be lead to believe by his personality, Natsu wasn't stupid; he knew things, like how to count, how to tell when rain was coming, how to find a meal in the wilderness, how to fight and defeat an opponent, and most importantly, how to figure out his emotional state. While those may not have been as important to other people, the knowledge proved invaluable during the times he was on missions.

And when he was around the Celestial Mage.

Natsu _knew_ he loved Lucy; from the moments he found her up until he convinced her be his partner he had been taking the time to see what she was like, and why he was so inexplicably drawn to her. It was only a bit later he realized that he was _attracted_ to her, which was a bit strange to him, since he was in a guild tons of attractive females, and this was the only one he had ever liked in this way.

Thus began his quest to wait her out, to see if she would fall for him like he did for her - by doing nothing but being themselves - or if he would need to confess to her or something. Which he, just saying, would have butchered, because despite all those stories Guildarts had told him about wooing women, he would have been absolutely terrified of messing up and scaring away the only woman he'd ever really loved. He wanted to at least know she'd felt the same way, which meant he was going to have to let her confess first.

He got his confession alright, but now it had backfired.

She loved him.

He loved her.

She was gone.

He was lost.

Why was he so stupid? Why did he - _how_ did he not notice she felt the same? Why did he not consider her more, like she had always, _always_ done for him?_Whywhywhy_!?

Natsu sighed, resting a hand on his forehead, his eyes betraying the swirling state of his mind as they stared at the ceiling of his hut, his other arm dangling off the side of his hammock. His head was beginning to hurt from all these different thoughts and emotions going back and forth, forth and back.

Resigning himself to the fact that fate didn't want him to get any sleep tonight, Natsu continued staring at the ceiling, his view now partially obscured by his hand.

He knew that this was affecting him a lot worse than others at the guild, but still, he couldn't help but wonder how others close to Lucy were going through back at the guild right now, having undoubtedly mulled over their letter's content for just as long as he had.

* * *

_Four hours earlier_.

For the past hour, all eyes of the guild had been trained on the large wooden doors of the guild, wither openly or discreetly. In either case, they were all anticipating the return arrival of what was left of Team Natsu, clinging to the hope that they would bring something back to ease their growing worries.

So it was fairly safe to say that when Erza and Grey both returned to the eerily silent Guild Hall, they were immediately swarmed with people and questions. Upon seeing no way to calm the crowd other than to give them what they wanted, Erza held up the one letter.

"I don't know if this will tell us where Lucy has gone," the redhead stated, flipping open the envelope. "But she wrote this for us,"

Mavis and Makarov shared a look, not that anyone else would have noticed, being as entranced in Erza's reading as they were. From what both masters could tell, Lucy was keeping the stories aligned with each other as well as giving the others some of the reasons she had for leaving. And all the while never hinting at where she might have gone to.

The guild noticed that, and their faces once more took on a gloomy shadow once more.

Juvia looked around, noticing all the depression in the guild hall, and finding that no one else had caught the few words, tacked on to the end of her friend's message, that had kept the water Mage from causing a storm inside the building and causing a flood.

It had been a surprise to Juvia when her first thoughts on the blonde's absence was not that she was happy her 'love-rival' was gone. No, it was a brief flash of grief that had momentarily caused her to liquefy in place, unable to do anything as the love of her life, Erza, and Natsu had run out to do at least _something_. She had sat useless while her other friends been out searching.

But she had always been observant, and level headed on most things (Grey-sama did not count - he was Juvia's loving Prince Charming after all), so now it was her turn to help out the others.

"Is Juvia the only one who noticed that Lucy said she'd be coming back?" The blue haired girl said, and all eyes went from Erza to her and back to Erza again faster than most people could blink.

"Is what she said true?" Levy asked as Erza reread the letter once again.

Erza blinked at the paper, then smiled at Levy, then Juvia. "Ah, it is."

The guild muttered in appreciation for her find, but Juvia couldn't soak up the attention just yet. She wasn't done, since she spotted one thing in Erza's story about meeting Lucy's landlady that was exploitable.

"Also..." The water Mage continued, drawing everyone's attention back to her. "Juvia wants to know if Grey-sama or Erza asked how long Lucy was holding the apartment for."

"Why would that matter?" Romeo asked from where he stood next to Wendy, both still to young to understand all the ways of keeping an apartment.

"Becuase it would tell us exactly when Lucy plans to come back!" Levy said, hopeful tears in her eyes. "I know where her landlady is, so I'll go ask!"

"Oi, shrimp! Wait up!" Gajeel called after her, speeding out the door with Lily on his shoulder.

"That was a good catch," Grey said, walking up to her and, _holy crap_, the proud look in his eyes as he made eye contact with her nearly had the water mage's heart explode. His next word cemented the blush on her face, though. "Juvia,"

Juvia, being as love crazed about the Ice Mage as she was, immediately went into overdrive producing romantic thoughts about the both of them together. As normal as that was for her though, the sheer magnitude of the fact that _Grey-sama had just praised her_, her brain couldn't handle and she passed out, eyes swirling and a steaming red blush on her cheeks.

"Oi, are you ok?" Grey shouted, catching the blue haired girl before she could hit the ground. The only response he heard was a muffled 'Grey-sama'.

The guild smirked at the scene, Mirajane especially. Maybe Lucy leaving, as sad as it was, would be as drastic of a push needed to get the densest males in the guild to notice that they had girls vying for their affection.

Mavis giggled, noticing how just one person had given the whole guild a new perspective on the situation, and that that one person had been the one to expose the footholds needed to find the blonde wizard faster. She couldn't mark it as a coincidence, that was for certain.

Besides Juvia regaining consciousness and glomping her Prince Charming, nothing much happened during the ten minutes it took for the Iron Dragon Slayer and the Solid Script Mage to return, and nobody took their eyes off the door, either. Patience was not usually the first thing that came to mind when describing Fairy Tail, after all.

At least this time, the welcomed pair wasn't mobbed upon crossing the threshold.

"How did it go?" Erza asked, voicing the question everyone wanted to hear the answer to.

Levy sighed, rubbing the back of her arms. Gajeel put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "She said that the hold would either end on the day after the next Daimatou Enbu, or if there was news recieved otherwise,"

"Why would that date be so important?" Charl asked, hovering over the small blue haired girl.

Levy shook her head, eyes landing on the floor and not rising further as Gajeel gently led her to a booth where she could sit down.

"Well that didn't do much," Cana said, swirling around the whiskey she's ordered but not drinking a drop.

"Maybe, but it gives us a deadline to hopefully find Lucy before," Erza said, crossing her arms.

"About that," Makarov started, moving to stand on the bar so all in the hall could see and hear him clearly. While Lucy seemed to be all for the idea of her friends finding her as soon as possible, neither master was convinced it was a good idea for her training to be interrupted. "I hereby declare that no one is to leave in the singular purpose of looking for Lucy,"

A beat of silence.

"What!?" Erza shouted, slamming her hands on the bar. She was not the only one in disbelief; around the room the only expression that could be seen was varying degrees of incredulity. Levy looked completely heartbroken, with Gajeel starting to fret over her emotional state.

"No one here is to walk out the door with the singular purpose of finding Lucy," Makarov repeated, not even flinching. "The punishment for breaking this rule is _that_,"

"That is an unreasonable request, Master!" Mira argued, coming up to the old man from behind the bar counter as most of the guild members shuddered at the threatened punishment. "And how, I might ask, would you even dream exercise this rule on Natsu? Every other time this sort of thing has happened, he ignored you anyway, and I find it hard to believe that _that_ would even stop him,"

"He is the only exception to the rule," Mavis said, defending the third once again from his angry children. "And the only reason to this is because we wouldn't dare getting between a dragon and his mate,"

Gajeel's sputtering and Wendy's stammering drew the attention of the confused guild from their master and to the two people who seemed to know what this 'mate' business was about.

"Gajeel? Care to enlighten us?" Macao asked, thinking something along the lines of the older Dragon Slayer knowing more about such an...intimate sounding title.

The Iron Mage looked around the crowd, then down at his girlfriend. Upon meeting her eyes, he flushed slightly in cheeks and averted his eyes up to the ceiling rafters. "It's, ah...Metalicana only really said stuff about it in passing, but..."

"'But' what?" Levy inquired, leaning in closer to the evermore uncomfortable Dragon Slayer.

"But I never thought that Salamander would have brain or balls to essentially plan to have bunny girl _marry_ him," Gajeel spat out, feeling the heat creep further across his face.

"He is!?" Mirajane shouted, hands flying to her cheeks and stars in her eyes. There was hope yet for all of her coupling plans!

"T-there's-s m-more to it t-than-n-n that-t," Wendy stammered, coming up behind her Dragon Slaying kin. "G-Grandeeny ex-explained i-it to me m-more,"

"Ok, so can you explain it then?" Macao asked, looking down at the little Sky Dragon Slayer.

Wendy gulped, but somehow found the force to not stutter much during her explanation. "It's, ah, essentially _like_ getting married but, um, the two partners are soulmates. The first step to even being mates is finding each other, which, um, Natsu-san did when he went to Hargeon. Then there's the bonding stage, where both parties get to know each other better before going through with the, um, ritual,"

"What ritual?" Mira breathed, excited to find out more about what this could entail. This way, if either of the girls dating (or soon to be dating) Dragon Slayers held out on her, she could be one step ahead of them. Those little gossip-details would be hers...

Wendy scowled slightly in confusion, then shook her head. "I don't know, exactly. But Grandeeny gave me a book to read about the details for when I was older,"

Gajeel snorted. "Well, it's a good thing you're in the same guild as flame-brain, since I doubt he ever let Igneel teach him anything but fighting,"

"That's true," Lisanna said thoughtfully from next to her older sister. Despite having had a childhood crush on Natsu when they were younger, she was happy he had chosen someone like Lucy to be with. "I remember that Natsu couldn't read when he first got here,"

The Iron Mage let out a harsh bark of laughter, nearly falling out his seat at this piece of info. "That's rich!"

"While this is nice and all," Cana said dryly, putting down her untouched whiskey and twisting to face the room. "Why won't the master even try and enforce the rule on Natsu?"

"Please," Grey said, shirt off and Juvia behind him with hearts in her eyes. "Flame-breath has always acted irrationally and aggressively wherever Lucy was MIA. And if Gramps and Natsu fought full out, Magnolia would go up in smoke,"

Erza crossed her arms, a thoughtful look on her face. "That's true..."

"And let me mention that he'll probably be moody, depending on what bunny girl wrote to him in that other letter you mentioned," Gajeel said, resting his chin in the palm of his hand, his other arm resting comfortingly across his girlfriend's shoulders.

Mavis hummed in agreement. "That's why the third and I are going to give him the space to do what he wants. By my calculations, he's not going to get much sleep tonight, meaning he might be at the guild by noon tomorrow,"

Lisanna's eyebrows furrowed. "'Might'?"

Mavis shrugged. "He might come to the guild, or he might immediately start his search for Lucy,"

"I hope Natsu-nii comes tomorrow," Romeo said, twisting his head to look at the giant guild doors. "He needs to know what we found out about Lucy-nee coming coming home after the next Grand Magic Games,"

* * *

**And here is the chapter where we introduce Natsu's character so far. I'll tell you now, this is probably the only scenes of Gale and Gruvia we'll see until Lucy gets back, but not the last of Natsu.**

**He appears twice in a later chapter, I think.**

**And, uh, I don't have writer's block, for the person who asked. But chapters are going to get further apart since school started for me again (like three days ago). But I have the next few chappies already planned out, so there shouldn't be a major lag in updates until I reach the end of my notes.**

**And I'll say this - I hate autocorrect. When I went back to look at how the earlier chapters turned out, I felt like face palming when I saw those glaring spellcheck errors. So if you saw any in this, please, just ignore them, okay?**


	4. A bet on love's start

**Chapter four.**

* * *

**A bet on love's start.**

* * *

Lucy might have only been away from home for three months (which, considering some of missions she had her ex-team had taken, wasn't that long) yet she was already suffering from the severe homesickness that Mavis had told her had to be one of the factors for her to go back early.

And the second factor (her training) while progressing smoothly - and ahead of schedule, she might add - still had a long way to go before she was anywhere near finished with it, even with as dedicated and helpful as Hisui, and as...motivated(?) as the king.

(What could Lucy say? Her training with the patriarch of Fiore was like being back in the Diamatou Enbu again, only she could now _hear_ her king's delighted cheers for 'more action!')

"What's wrong?" Lucy's companion and current teacher asked, putting down the book she had been bringing over. "You've been staring out into space for about five minutes now,"

"Ah, sorry," Lucy apologized, straightening her posture and smiling meekly. "I guess I was just lost in my thoughts for a while,"

Hisui cloaked her head, eyeing the blonde for a second. "About home? You're worried they haven't remembered you by now, aren't you?"

Lucy sighed, shrugging helplessly. Truth be told, she had explained to Hisui the list of reasons why she had taken a 'break' from her guild within the first week of their new routine. Needless to say, the princess had been disappointed in the actions of such a nakama-oriented group, but had understood Lucy's desire to still return.

And she had also understood the anxiety the blonde had over her friends and loved ones never remembering her. It wasn't likely, as Hisui figured that if they didn't remember on their own then their masters would beat it into them before long, but that wouldn't help ease her companion's worries.

Looking for and idea to inform the blonde about the goings-on back in Magnolia (without doing something like sending a solider to spy on them, or buying a Viewing Lacrima), Hisui's inspiration came in the form of their current study material.

Holding one of the books up, she smiled. "How about we try looking through the crystal ball? See how things are in Fairy Tail,"

"That's a good idea, only I don't have a crystal ball," the blonde replied politely.

"Oh, I think there was one in here we could use," the royal jade stated, heading in the general direction she thought it was at. "Just wait here a sec until I find it,"

"Ok..." Lucy said, then gave a mental shrug. If it would ease the homesickness to a degree that didn't make her want to vomit, then it was worth a shot.

* * *

Mira sighed, watching from her place behind the bar as the remaining half of the guild that wasn't out on, quote-on-quote '_missions_', moved through their usual routines with such lack-luster expressions that the barmaid nearly shattered the glass she was supposed to be cleaning by gripping it too hard.

It had been just under a month since they had all awoken from whatever speed they'd cast on themselves that had made them forget their precious friend, and depression was starting to set in as no new news was found on Lucy's whereabouts.

But Mira could see that wasn't what was really tearing up her family; it was having to constantly explain it to the other members who were out on missions during the dramatic events of that day.

And her, being the one people usually talked to when something was wrong, wasn't sure how many more times she could repeat and relive the moment her guilt over not noticing the blonde summoner without either bursting out into tears, or withholding all visible emotions period.

Mira put the now clean cup down on the rack next to her to dry, automatically reaching for another one. Letting her thoughts wander through the mental list she had of the people currently out of the guild, the white-haired girl realized that Laxus's team, the Thunder God Tribe, was due back from a month and a half long mission today.

Mira sighed. Four more people who didn't know. Four more people she would have to tell. Four more people who would join in on the heartbreak, even if they could hide it better than most.

_I should start steeling my emotions for this now_, she thought. _It might help lessen the ache_.

Ten minutes, a dozen deep breaths, and twenty dirty glasses later, Mira watched as the returning team walked through the guild hall - and right to her, to record the mission's undoubted success - bickering and laughing as though nothing was wrong.

Mira took another deep breath, basking the small amount of energy they brought with them, the energy that would be considered normal here if things were that same as they had before the Thunder God Tribe had left. In a way, Mira was glad she was the one who quest-returnees spoke to first; she could use what was left of her cheerful personality to lessen the blow for them.

Exhaling sharply, Mira plastered on her usual cheerful grin as the four reached her at the bar. "Welcome back! How was the mission?"

"Went fine," the blond Thunder Mage said gruffly, eyeing the guild with the keen look Mira had expected from her fellow S-class Mage. "What's going on here though?"

Mira's lips twitched ever so slightly. As blunt as he was, Mira was sure that Laxus wouldn't appreciate it if she sugarcoated anything. "Lucy's gone, and we don't really know if she's planning on coming back,"

"You mean the cheerleader? Why'd she go?" Bixslow asked, his wooden babies repeating his last word.

Mira shook her head, opening her mouth to speak, but getting cut off by Laxus before she could utter a sound.

"I'm sure you three can ask around the guild for that information," the blond stated, dropping his large frame onto one of the barstools. "Her team is more likely to know what it's about, so go pester them,"

The three members saluted, dispersing themselves across the half filled guild. Mira, being observant as always, noticed that Evergreen went directly to Elfman, while Bixslow had ended up speaking to Lisanna.

"I take it you don't want me to say anything about what happened," Mira said, reaching for one of the glasses she had just cleaned to get the man's usual. "For some reason,"

Laxus shrugged, watching the barmaid move. "I figured you've already talked about it enough,"

She placed the full tankard down, eyeing the blond suspiciously. "While the concern is nice, I still have to tell _you_ about it, and the rules master gave us to follow,"

Laxus raised an eyebrow. "The old geezer made rules for Lucy's leaving? That's odd,"

Mira nodded, then resuming her previous task of cleaning the dirty dishes, all the while filling in the blond wizard on what had happened during his absence, and filling up his mug twice more.

"So when'd Natsu leave? Right after, or did he wait a bit?" The Lightning Dragon Slayer asked, taking a swig of beer.

"Thankfully, he waited and we managed to speak with him, and have him read some of Wendy's book, but he left not an hour later," the white haired woman said, turning around to put the dried plates away.

"That would explain why I wasn't assaulted for a fight the moment I walked in," Laxus commented, once again watching the barmaid. "Also why half the guild is out, and why you're so antsy,"

Mira stiffened, craning her neck around to pin the hulking man with an annoyed glare. "I am not being antsy,"

"Sure you aren't," Laxus said sarcastically, unimpressed with the Take-Over mage's huff. "That's why you haven't stopped moving in the thirty minutes since I walked in."

"That's because I'm _working_, Laxus," the white haired woman retorted.

"You and I both know there's a difference between working and stilling idle hands, Mira,"

Said barmaid closed the dish cabinet with a snap, twirling on her heels to face the Dragon Slayer. Truthfully, she _had_ sought to use her job in the guild to ignore her knowing guilt and heartache, but being called out on it made what was left of her frayed nerves snap.

"What, would you suppose I rather do instead, Laxus? I'm all ears," Mira seethed, cupping a hand over her ear and leaning in to make her point.

The man smirked. "I never said you shouldn't stop working, but I recommend you do something _outside_ the guild,"

That threw the barmaid for a definite loop, and judging by the look in the blond's eyes, he knew it too. "You can't be serious. The last time I took a mission was before we thought Lisanna died, Laxus,"

"Oh, so you're saying that you're rusty?" Laxus smirked, lifting one brow in a challenging sort of way.

"No, I'm not!" Mira defended, slapping her hands on the bar in front of her. "But there wouldn't be anyone here to serve the guild food and drinks,"

Laxus pinned her with a flat stare, unimpressed with her efforts to stay in the guild and wallow in her guilt. "Kianna,"

Mira scowled. "She would need help, Laxus, even with only half the guild here,"

"Please, we've all seen Lisanna helping you out sometimes, so that's not a problem either," the blond Mage smirked, enjoying the flustered look on Mira's face. "But if the reason you don't want to go on a job is because you don't think you can handle it, me being the gentleman I am will go with you on one,"

Mira scoffed, crossing her arms and leaning on her weight to one foot in a woman's universal body language for - _oh really, you think so? I think __**not**__._ "Fine, I'll take a job, but the catch is, if you come with me, it's going to be one from the S-class board."

"Sounds good to me," the Lightning Dragon Slayer said, gulping down the rest of his beer. "When do we leave?"

Mira cocked her head, challenging sparks flying between the two. "As soon as I get packed,"

* * *

"Are you sure you want to go on another job, Erza? You just got back for your last one," Kianna said, placing a slice of strawberry cake down in front of the tired looking redhead.

It was true, the Requip Mage had a sunken color around her eyes and her cheeks looked hollow, like she hadn't eaten normally in a few days. Regardless, she looked like she could kick butt and take names at any moment, but there was a subtle air of forlornness to her that hadn't been there two months ago.

"Ah, I have to do my part to see if we'll find Lucy before her apartment hold ends," the armored woman said, using her fork to cut a piece of her favorite dessert.

Kianna sighed, hugging the serving tray to her chest. She really shouldn't be surprised by Erza's behavior, since she was hardworking and a bit introverted naturally (along with a lot of people in the guild, actually), meaning she wouldn't be very reasonable until whatever she was working on was finished.

And since even _Mirajane,_ of all people, had left on a mission - with _Laxus_ - for the first time in years, the purple haired barmaid figured it was for the same reason so many people had taken so many missions and leaving the guild only half full on a good day.

But the redhead had more of a reason to exploit the loophole in the rules their master had laid down, since she was on Lucy's team and likely felt she had more the make up to the missing blonde for.

"Well, I'll tell you what," the barmaid sighed, shifting her grip on the serving tray to rest on her hip and thigh so she could rummage through the dress's pocket with the other hand. She hadn't wanted to tell anyone about this job in particular but... "I'll let you take this job, but you'll have to promise me you'll get enough rest and that you'll take care of yourself,"

"Uh, sure?" Erza said, confused. A far as she was concerned, as long as she wasn't falling apart at the seams she was fit and ready for almost anything. But, if her fellow guild mate was worried enough on her behalf to call her out on it, she would do her best to listen to her.

Kianna nodded, placing the job request down in front of her fellow Mage and then walking away to continue her job. Erza, curious, picked it up to read what made it special enough for her colleague to hide it from the rest of their family. Her eyes widened when she saw the time limit listed in the description.

"U-unlimited time!?" The redhead muttered in shock, thinking of the riot that might be incited by the promise of unlimited time to look for Lucy, since that was what ending a mission early had evolved to mean.

_This is good_, she thought, finishing the remaining bits of cake before getting up and heading out of the guild. _The request itself is simple, so I have a few months of free time to look, since I'll be expected back at the guild eventually and they don't need anything more to weigh on their minds._

Continuing with that line of thought, Erza quickly picked up her multitude of suitcases, then, while ignoring the usual stares she got for moving such a load, headed towards the train station so she could buy her ticket to Onibus.

Five hours later, Erza had finished her job, received her pay in full, and was in the process of sending most of her luggage back to her rooms in Fairy Hills. She had realized early on that if she wanted to find her missing friend, she would have to travel light in order to cover more ground faster.

"Right, let's go," she said to herself softly, reassuring herself that with every step around the bustling city that she was one step closer to finding Lucy. It took her three hours, during which the sun had turned into a fiery orange blob on the western horizon, but she had managed to thoroughly sweep what she called the first layer of the city, the layer that honest, normal, everyday people dwelled in.

Now she would look through the second layer, the seedier parts of the city, with dishonest men and likely some dark Mages around.

But Erza wasn't going to take a chance that her friend had been passing through, ended up getting kidnapped in the hands of some local Dark-Guild, and she hadn't been found because the Requip Mage wasn't diligent in her search.

She had no doubt that the Celestial Spirit Mage could protect herself, but it was just that...well, the scarlet haired woman was worried for the girl she had seen as her little sister. She, and most of those at the guild, understood what it was to lose everything, and that made them desperate to hold on to what they had regained, trust, and loved ones especially.

About two hours after the sun went down, Erza was about ready to move on after the next stop, which from what she had gathered was a fledgling Dark-Guild located towards the very edge of town. In the usual fashion of her Guild, upon arrival of the scene she kicked down their front door and let herself in.

What she found had not been anticipated.

"J-Jellal!? Meledy!?" She yelped in shock at the battle scene going on before her. The same battle that had paused the moment she walked in, including the two people who seemed to be hopelessly outnumbered.

"Erza!" The blue haired Mage sputtered, caught totally off guard at who had just entered the fray. Unfortunately for him, several of the opponents he had been fighting noticed this as well, and took the opportunity to strike.

"Look out!" The red head shouted, summoning a sword and leaping to his defense.

Her actions seemed to shock everyone out of whatever daze they were in, and the dark Mages resumed their assault.

"What are you doing here!?" Jellal yelled, somehow managing to be heard over the sounds of shouting and multiple spells going off all at once. Not to mention the fact that he was fighting off, read 'knocking-aside' multiple enemies at once.

"I could ask you the same thing!" She shouted back, requiped in her Cheetah armor and dancing around the large room, taking down as many enemies as her graceful twirling could accommodate for.

"Tch. We came to investigate the opening of a Dark-Guild base here in Onibus," the tattooed man replied, both his and Erza's fighting leading them to stand back to back. "Now why are you here?"

"Lucy's missing," she replied, double kicking the wizard in front of her into submission before moving to slash at the next one in line. "I was looking for her,"

"And you think these guys have her?" The accusatory tone in his voice and the redoubling of his efforts did not bode well for the poor Dark Mages on the other end of his glare. "Are the others coming for back up or something?"

Eza shook her head, using a newly summoned second sword to take out twice the number of enemies as before. "No, Lucy left on her own, but I was exploring all options if she'd passed through town,"

"Makes sense," Jellal replied, elbowing someone in the face before ducking and sweeping the legs out from under another.

"Uh, I hate to interrupt here," Meledy interjected, fighting her way to the two allied Mages. "But maybe we should talk after we deal with these guys?"

"You know, that's a good idea," the blue haired man replied as he blocked and parried at least three different attacks, re-diverting his efforts back into putting this Dark-Guild out of commission, permanently.

It took only ten minutes, as three S-class Mages working in unison against barely two dozen grunts was never what one would consider a 'fair fight' under any circumstances. But the three weren't going for fair; they were looking for a quick and efficient win. After taking out the last one left, the Guild master as it was, it was a relatively simple task to tie the unconscious dark Mages up and anonymously drop them off in front of the police station.

Erza stood on the roof of the apartment building across the street from the now bustling law enforcement office, watching for a second more before twisting her head to face her two companions, the wind causing her long scarlet hair to temporarily obscure her view. "It's nice to see the both of you again, for what it's worth now,"

Jellal winced. "Yeah, it's nice to see you too, but we should continue what we were talking about earlier. When and why did Lucy leave? Things seemed fine the last time I saw everyone,"

Erza shook her head, telling the story from beginning when she and Team Natsu came back from a long mission, to where she currently was, standing on a roof and watching the police make arrests below.

Upon hearing the end, Jellal nodded, grasping the current situation back at his former guild. "I got it, but I'm sorry to say we haven't seen her,"

"I see..." The redhead murmured, meet both of their eyes, a somewhat crestfallen expression on her face. "Well, I'd probably better get go with my search, then."

"Oh, right," the criminal Mage said, a sad and surprised look on his face as he realized his time speaking with the red haired woman was up for now. "We'll try and contact you if we find out anything about Lucy,"

"That'd be good," Erza nodded, turning to leave. "I guess I'll see you both later,"

"Wait," Meledy said, a brilliant idea forming in her mind that neither of the two before her could really say no to. "Why don't you come with us? From what you've said, people are only skimming through the areas closest to their job location since they don't have a very long window of extra time after to completion to do anything.

"If Lucy really has fallen into any trouble with Dark Guilds in their areas, they wouldn't know. That's where we'd come in; we'll cover the ground they miss, both taking out Dark Mage strongholds and looking for Lucy," the pink haired girl smiled, watching as the two others shared an unsure look. Oh, they needed to agree to this; what other opportunity would there be to ever get these two together?

"Well..." Erza started, about to argue that she would be fine on her own, but froze when Meledy gave her a patented teary-puppy eyes look. The Fairy Queen sweatdropped, then sighed. "Fine, I'll come with you guys. You don't mind, do you Jellal?"

"Uh..." Was his ever so intelligent reply as he blinked in confusion at whatever the hell had just happened. He looked between the two women, one waiting for his response, the other threatening him with her eyes to say yes. It wasn't that hard of a decision. "Sure, you come with us,"

Meledy cheered, throwing an arm around Erza and nearly taking both off the roof in the process. "Yay! Thanks Jellal! So, when do we leave?"

* * *

Cana slumped onto the bar counter of the inn she was at, her mission to some random-ass town in the middle of Fiore's country land finished and paid for, with all her things packed and ready to leave for the next morning.

Except it wasn't Fairy Tail she was going back to.

No, it had become something of an unspoken rule back home that when anyone finished a quest and had extra time before the allotted mission was up, they would do a quick search of the surrounding areas to see if their missing Celestial Mage would turn up.

So far, four months after everyone had realized she was gone in the first place, and everyone in the guild having taken at least one mission like this - including Nab - they weren't any closer to finding her then when they began.

"Excuse me, miss?" Cana shifted her eyes up, not feeling like lifting her chin off the cool wooden top. It was the bartender, holding a wine glass and an unopened bottle. "Would you like to order something to drink, or are you just taking a breather?"

Any other time, the offer was nothing Cana would turn her nose up at; she loved booze, the buzz that came with it, the mature flavors, and kicks often times with enough bit to kill a dragon. It was officially a running joke back at the guild and across Magnolia that if there was alcohol anywhere in her vicinity, she could be counted upon to consume it all at once and not later die of alcohol poisoning.

She had both practice and genetics to thank for that little blessing, as she had put it to use many times during her equally as numerous drinking-binges.

But that was four months ago.

"No...just taking a breather," she said, an apologetic smile on her lips as she watched the bartender nod, putting away the glass and wine before heading over to two other customers that were belting out different off key songs.

She sighed, pulling her knees up her chin, leaving her forehead resting against the edge of the bar and keeping her from toppling forward.

She felt so bad over Lucy leaving; they shared pretty much the same pain after all, losing their mother at a young age, and then being thrust into the care of a neglectful father who likely only spared them a glace once or twice before shit hit the fan.

True, Cana wasn't nearly as torn up about it as Levy, or Natsu was. Actually, scratch that. Natsu's hurt was in a league of hurt all his own at the moment, with Happy at a close but still far off second.

She hadn't been lying to the bartender when she said she had needed a breather; the air the guild as a whole gave off most days was gloomy and depressing at best, not to mention that there were reminders of their friendly blonde Summoner on every corner of the entire frikin' city.

Was it any wonder that all the Mages back home were fighting over the missions that had an aversion to anything that would even be remotely related to Lucy? No missions to the capital, no missions to Onibus, and especially no missions in Hargeon.

Cana tightened the ball she had curled into, just thinking of all things related to her missing friend driving the wedge of loneliness deeper into her heart. She had bonded with Lucy on Tenroujima, had been her partner. She really did _not _want to know what Natsu was going through right now.

She was doing somewhat better than the other members on that team, though. At least she was taking missions.

Grey mostly stayed around the guild, usually freezing up a dark, isolated corner as Juvia watched, quietly and not-so-quietly displaying her concern for him.

Erza...had taken this one mission at the two month mark, somehow managing to find a job with an unlimited amount for completion time from Mavis knows where, and nobody had thought twice when she hadn't comeback two months afterwords. And nobody bothered looking, either, since they had all take up her example and left to find Lucy on their own.

Which brought Cana back to her current situation, sitting alone in an unfamiliar bar, in the middle of Fiore, with the nearest (legal) guild being over a dozen miles away in any one direction traveled.

"Well look who it is!" An obnoxiously happy and loud (in Cana's opinion) voice boomed from centimeters behind her, at the same moment the force of what had to be that of a full-grown man's crashed into her.

From her already precarious situation on the stool, and the face that she hadn't been paying attention whatsoever, her nose unceremoniously met wood. Hard.

A tick mark appeared from what could be seen of her brunette head, and she automatically put a hand up against her stinging nose. It came back with her fingers dripping in blood.

A swarm of tick marks appeared, but the person who had charged Cana, read, the-one-who-needed-to-run-from-her, still had his arm over the back of her shoulders, and was either drunk-signing, or talking way too fast.

Cana wasn't sure, but she didn't care. Five seconds after she found her nose to, in fact, be bleeding, she acted out on her violent urge to punch the bastard in the face, years of experience in bar fights letting her slip out from the idiots arm and giving her room to score a clean uppercut.

"That was my nose you fucker!" She shouted, and was satisfied to hear a grunt followed by a thud as whoever it was landed several feet away. Still refusing to look at him, Cana turned in one motion to look at the shocked bartender. She pointed to her nose, which she had clamped shut with the other hand. "Do you have any tissues? I need to stop the bleeding."

The man scrambled behind the counter, being quick to fulfill her orders. "Y-yes, here you go,"

"Thanks," she said, tilting her head back as she tried to stop her nose from bleeding anymore.

She was cleaning up the rest of her face when, yet again, she was assaulted by the same asshole who she could have sworn was out cold a moment ago. It clicked into place when she heard the first words out his mouth that she bothered listening to.

"This nee-chan's got some _wild_ spunk to her yet!" The Drunk Falcon cheered, paying no attention to the fact that said girl was glaring at him enough to boil led. He leered suggestively down at her, a competitive glint in his slightly glazed over eyes. He mimed taking a drink. "Shall we have another go at a contest?"

Cana shoved him off of her, taking a new seat on the other end of the bar. "Piss off, and go find some other bar buddy to get drunk with. I don't feel like it, Bacchus,"

He didn't take the hint, following her over the her new seat, and the next one, and the next one, getting the Card Mage more and more furious with each time she had to get up and move. Tired of the stupid game, she took a final seat, deciding to just ignore him.

So he just continued their conversation from where she (tried to) walked off alone.

"Ha! That's the funniest joke I've ever heard, the only woman capable of drinking as much as me not doing so just because 'she didn't feel like it'," he cackled, dropping heavily to his seat and smacking his hand down on the bar, effectively getting the only server's attention.

"Er, what can I get you?"

Bacchus spared as look a Cana, who was still ignoring him, then gave a drunken grin to the man. "Get me a couple Bloody Mary's, and her some beer,"

"Don't," the brunette snapped, and the bartender looked at her. "I don't want any,"

"But still get her some," the S-class Mage insisted, bringing the poor server's attention back to him. "She needs it,"

"I don't, so just leave it at that," Cana hissed, grinding her teeth and trying not to look over her shoulder at the drunken fighter.

"Yes, get it,"

"No, don't,"

"Yes, dude, get her some beer,"

"And I told you I don't want any beer,"

"Yes,"

"No,"

"Yes,"

"_No_,"

"No,"

"Yes,"

"Okay, she agreed, now hurry up with our drinks!" Bacchus hollered in success, and the bartender scurried off to do so, glad he didn't have to follow that argument any longer.

Cana, meanwhile, blinked before slapping her forehead at the stupidity of what just happened. How, could she fall into such a childish trap while completely sober? And let's not neglect to mention that the one who set it up was already off kilter enough to get a drink to celebrate her bloody nose and female gender.

"Whatever," she muttered, turning herself further away from her unwanted bar buddy. "I don't have to drink anything,"

Bacchus snorted. "You'd never let good booze go to waste, nee-chan,"

Cana 'tch'ed, knowing he was right since it had become rather precious to her after the first time she needed to dull the pain in her heart, but now she could blame it on taking away whatever time she's had left with Lucy before she left. If she hadn't been so absorbed in her bets and barrels, she could have seen that her friend had desperately needed someone, and been the one to have her stay...

Maybe she could let these beers go to waste, just this once at least.

She grinned, baring her teeth in a mock-snarl at the Quatro Puppy member. "Watch me; I refuse to drink a drop until a certain friend of mine comes back to Fairy Tail."

Bacchus leaned back in his barstool, surprise obvious on his angular face, before leaning back in, closer than before. "Is that a bet?"

Cana shrugged, meeting his interested gaze head on, neither looking as the first of the drinks were placed before them by the still nervous bartender. "If you want to make it into one, then go right a head,"

They were nose to nose now, competitive electricity brightening the tension around them. Bacchus's grin widened. "Alright, the bet is that you, Cana Alberona, can't have even a drop of alcohol until this friend of yours gets back to your guild. My job is to see if I can get you to have a swig, and the winner of this little bet will decide the punishment when the whole thing comes to terms, deal?"

Cana smirked, sticking out a hand which was immediately taken and shook. "I, Cana Alberona of Fairy Tail, hereby accept the terms of the bet laid before me by you, Bacchus Groh of Quatro Ceberus,"

The electricity around the two raged stronger than before, and the sudden jump in intensity nearly made the bartender drop the last of the drinks he was bringing over to the pair. He briefly stared at the two and the magnitude of alcoholic beverages around them. Both of them together definitely wouldn't be enough to polish it off, and from what he'd gathered, the girl still wasn't planning on drinking anytime soon.

He'd better get a bucket and mop ready, just in case...not that he'd need it.

* * *

"So, who's hooked up with who this time?" Hisui asked, noticing the devious smirk on the blonde across from her. When she had given her friend (and they could officially be called that at this point) the crystal ball to help her feel better, she hadn't predicted that Lucy would use it watch her friend's love life's.

Or that she herself would watch over the blonde's shoulder and follow it just as closely on most days.

"I think Bacchus just made a move on Cana!" Lucy squealed, watching as the two mentioned Mages continued to bicker and talk until the enchantment on the crystal ended. She swore. "I'm still not very good at this, even after three months of practice."

Hisui giggled. "No, but the dance-casting and new spells you're learning for that are spot on."

Lucy's smirk grew wider as she stood up, arching her back to better show off the faint but noticeable lines on her stomach. "I still cannot get over the fact that I now have abs, and you have no idea how glad I am that they aren't bulging and muscular like they are on guys,"

"I don't think you have to worry; Natsu will love you either way," Hisui teased, watching as the blonde's face turned a dozen shades of red and pink. This had become another pass time that Hisui had not anticipated gaining by being around Lucy, but it was one she enjoyed. "It's too easy, I swear. But before you checked on Cana-san, you were looking in on, uh - Erza-san and Mira-san, right?"

Lucy nodded, settling back down into her seat, finger tracing patterns on the smooth crystal ball before her. "Yeah, and I'm actually glad I did. Things are getting pretty serious between Mira and Laxus, not to mention Erza and Jellal have sort of had feelings for each other for a while now. But whatever, I'm just really, really happy for them!"

"I can tell by the smile that's trying to split your face open," Hisui giggled. "Now this is totally not relevant to the subject at hand, but... Happy birthday!"

The surprised look on Lucy's face was priceless. She hadn't told Hisui her birthdate, and even back at the guild the only persons who might know were Master, since he _was_ the master, and Natsu and Happy, since they had seen the dates on the gifts her dad had sent her.

So how had Hisui...? Then she remembered that this green haired girl I front of her was the princess of Fiore, and had unlimited access to her citizen's records if she so wished it. Lucy laughed. "Thanks, Hisui. I can hardly believe I'm _eighteen_ now. I feel so old,"

Both girls burst out laughing. Hisui wiped a tear from her eye, reaching under the desk to pull out the cleverly wrapped box that contained the gift. "I hope you like it; it will help with your training as well,"

Curious, Lucy swiftly moved to unwrap her gift, her companion rolling her eyes as she neatly unstuck the tape before taking off the paper and opening the box. Lucy caught her breath, slowly laying a delicate hand on the soft fabric beneath it.

Hisui coughed, nervous. "Do you like it?"

Lucy did answer, enraptured was she was by the whole piece of fabric in her hands. It was a deep, mysterious navy blue almost the exact shade of a clear night sky, made of the same durable, yet fashionable clothes Mages made thief clothes out of. As thoughtful as that was, what the Stellar Spirit Mage really noticed was the clear, painstakingly sewn constellations of all the different Celestial spirits that dwelled above, the Twelve Zodiac's dominating the front of the skirt.

"I love it," she whispered, mentally naming all the patterns she saw. _Loke, Aquarious, Aries... Plue, Lyra, Harologium..._ They were all there, even those whose keys she didn't own, like Pieces and Libra.

Hisui smiled, relieved. "I'm glad, but the skirt wasn't the only thing in there; there's also a Gypsy coin belt, and a too to match."

Upon further investigation, the tissue paper separating the clothing articles coughed up a luscious golden yellow coin belt, and something that might have been mistaken for a wrap in the same color.

"Uh, I thought there was a top in here," Lucy stated, examining the strip of fabric that was much narrower on one side than it was on the other.

"That _is_ the top," Hisui explained, taking the fabric and demonstrating how to put it on over the shirt she already had on. "It may look like a swimsuit top, but it will allow you ease of movement when fighting."

The blonde grumbled. "And who designs battle swim wear, exactly?"

Hisui shrugged, handing the gift back, a smirk on her face. "I wouldn't know that, but I _do _know that Natsu will love you in that,"

Lucy groaned, burying her red face in both her hands and yellow cloth. "I've told you, while I like him, he has something with Lisanna!"

The princess raised an eyebrow. "And how would you know? You haven't used the crystal ball to look at more than a handful of people from your guild, and neither of those two are on the list,"

"I've removed myself from the picture entirely, so it shouldn't be that hard for him to move on,"

"Then how about we make a bet? I bet that he's in love with you only, and hasn't looked at another girl. You bet that he's long since moved on with Lisanna. The wager I place is that neither of us can cut our hair until we find out which one of us is right,"

The blonde summoner mulled it over in her head, before agreeing. "I'll take that bet of yours, but only if we're still allowed to get it trimmed and stylized,"

"Deal," the royal jade said, taking Lucy's hand and shaking it. She blinked, and then laughed, a sudden thought just occurring to her. "And it would seem like tonight is the night for making bets dealing with romance,"

It took a beat, but then Lucy remembered Bacchus and Cana's conversation, and she too burst out laughing.

And somewhere, buried under whatever denial she still had left for her love of Natsu, a part of her wouldn't mind losing this one bet.

* * *

**Next chapter should be out in another we week, for those of you who keep asking me to update - and I recommend you look at my profile for info about my updating policy.**

**Besides that, I'm curious to know what you guys think of these parings and how you I did setting them up. Tear them apart and piece me together what you liked about them so I can see what might need to be tweaked in how they actually act later.**

**This chapter is 6,556 words long - I didn't write it for you guys not to tell me what you think, and that includes current readers, new readers, and future readers that will find this way after it's completion.**

**With that being all I have to say, I'll see you guys in about a week!**


	5. A fire's plight

**Chapter five.**

* * *

**A fire's plight.**

* * *

What was it with the dragon slayers and the number seven? Their lives seemed to revolve around that one number, supposedly the luckiest one there was, and yet it had brought so much despair along with it, at least in Natsu's experience.

His father left on 7 - 7 - X777.

He was frozen in time for seven years.

Seven dragons had attacked the capital city once again on the seventh of July, fourteen years after they had left.

And now, Lucy had been missing for seven months, and if Natsu thought the trail couldn't have gotten colder than when he first set out, then he was being shown otherwise.

He and Happy were in a town on the border of Fiore, sharing one of the several benches in the park at the city center, dully watching as the citizens and local wizards helped decorate the area for the upcoming Halloween festivities, spiced rums and pies, roasted meats and harvest vegetables being brought out by the nearby street venders as the chilly October day gradually transformed into the cold night of autumn.

The pink haired dragon slayer kept his head down, absently petting the exceed in his lap behind the ears, paying no head to the powerfully enticing smells and cheerful laughter around him, and absolutely refusing to even so much as _glance_ at the night sky, undoubtedly filling with the first of the evening stars.

Back before all this shit hit the fan, Natsu had rather liked looking up at the heavens on the nights he and his adopted son had gone camping, or fishing, both of which they had done often. They used to make him think of all the good times he'd had with Igneel, and the desperate hope, his endless drive, to be reunited with the dragon again.

But now...he couldn't stand the sight of them, the never ending worry and despairing thoughts that were triggered by the connection the constellations would forever in his mind bare to Lucy. He'd been over half the country by that point, and yet he hadn't found a single trace of the blonde he sought after.

Had he been mistakenly directed towards other blonde women? Yes, he had, and each time that happened it was Happy who had to keep him from burning down whatever town or city they were in out of a misguided way to get rid of his bottled up emotions.

It could not be healthy to shut most of his emotions in 24/7, but he was going to keep himself together if not for his sake, but for Happy's. It was laughable, as nowadays the little blue feline was what kept Natsu himself from exploding, but the Dragon Slayer could tell that Happy was feeling the loss of Lucy just as keenly as he did, if not more since the cat had never had to deal with _worry_ to this extent in his life.

They had at least believed Lisanna was at peace, and after a period of mourning with the rest of their collective family, had patched themselves up as best they could and gotten on with their lives in the process. But they couldn't, not with them being tied in place by the unknown fear of what could be happening one of their own, or where she was so they could _help_.

Because that was how their guild worked; if a member was taken, or a mission had suddenly gotten out of hand, it was assured that the rest of the guild would come for their own, would have their backs.

But they couldn't guard someone's back if they weren't there to guard, and that made them all anxious, jittery, _nervous_.

Natsu could almost guarantee that his thoughts were generally running along the same lines as the rest of the guild, but he knew that that choking amounts of loneliness, the furious anticipation he had due to Lucy leaving was all his own.

Gods above, he needed to find her so he could get on his knees and apologies. He couldn't wait the remaining nine months until the next Grand Magic Games for it - she didn't deserve to wait that long on him.

That brought him to another area of thought the pink haired Mage dreaded. Natsu knew that the chances of Gramps putting him on the team was high, but he couldn't abandoned his search for Lucy, and at the same time he couldn't let down his family that was counting in him to win.

If he went out of his way to train...no, he wouldn't be able to do that, as just thinking of it made his insides roll in protest and his instincts to scream 'NO'. He physically and emotionally could not give up this search; Lucy was way to important to him to ever give up on.

Maybe he could do what Erza was doing; he'd met the redhead again by chance several towns back, and had been dully surprised to see that she was rolling with Jellal and Meledy to find Lucy by taking down dark guilds. The Dragon Slayer had already taken several down in the process of his search, but now he thought Erza had the right idea.

Lucy could be _anywhere_, and that most definitely meant within the vial clutches of a Dark Guild. She was a prime target for people like that, beautiful, powerful, and with what might have been considered a naïve trust in other people.

Natsu let out a sharp breath, trying to still his racing heart and adrenaline rush that came from even _thinking_ that the girl he loved was being held against her will by the dark Mages.

That settled it, he was going to aim for the underbelly of society, screw being a single Mage against whole guilds. He'd done it before, and he had Happy for backup. That was all he was going to need, anyway.

"Natsu...?" Happy said from the pink headed boy's lap, a tired look in his eyes as he stared up at his best friend. "What's wrong?"

Natsu tried to twist his features into that of a reassuring smile, but judging by the feline's furrowed eyebrows it didn't turn out the way he wanted. "Nothing, buddy. Just thinking of our next course of action from here,"

"Oh. So what are we going to do?"

"Find a dark guild, see if they know anything about Luce, and then put them out of commission,"

"Like what Erza was doing with Jellal?"

"Yeah, pretty much,"

"It sounds like a better plan than what we currently have, which is asking around for a 'blonde, busty woman with a pretty smile'."

"See? But you have to admit, that description matches Lucy perfectly,"

"Aye. When so do we leave, ne Natsu?"

"Right now, buddy," he replied, standing from his hunched position on the bench to his full height, coat falling behind him and falling to the back of his knees. Happy hovered over his shoulder, watching his foster father. "We're not sparing anymore time, Happy,"

"Not even for a haircut?" The blue feline responded, noticing that Natsu hadn't bothered groom his pink spikes in ages, leaving the longer ones to grow to brush his shoulders. It was a strange sight, since Natsu had never let his hair grow out before.

"No, just for food and sleep," the pink haired boy replied, just now noticing his hair. Reaching into his bag, he took a strand of fabric and tied the lochs behind his neck so that they wouldn't get in the way when he fought.

"Ok, so where are we heading?" Happy asked, moving to follow as the Dragon Slayer started walking. "Erza and Jellal and Meledy came from the west, Clover Town I think they said, so we already know that area is covered since Erza said they started in Onibus,"

Natsu thought for a moment. "But that means they're heading either south or eastwards. And there's a lot of other places west of Onibus."

Happy nodded. "West it is then?"

"Yeah, buddy. Now let's go find Lucy, and bring her home,"

"Aye sir!"

* * *

Nine months. That's how long Lucy had been away from the guild, though she supposed to her friends it was seven, since they had noticed she left two months afterwards. But no matter what they said, it was nine months since she'd left, leaving nine months until she could return.

Sure she loved living in the palace, and she was glad for the new friendship she had with Hisui, but this wasn't her home. And by the way her training was progressing, she might be allowed to leave earlier than her previous deadline, which was good since the crystal ball Hisui had lent her had shattered from excessive amounts of magic being used on it.

Shattered may have been an overstatement though; Lucy had just been trying to smooth out a wrinkle in her faulty scrying magic, and a spiderweb crack had fractured the polished crystal surface, obviously making the spell fizzle out, and the the blonde panic.

She had spent the next twenty minutes profusely apologizing to Hisui, until the princess managed to calm her down and tell her it didn't really matter since there were Viewing Lacrimas for things like this now. It had gone a long way in easing Lucy's panic, but even now several weeks after the incident, Lucy still felt a bit guilty.

"Lucy, I don't think you should be zoning out!" A sudden shout from above startled the blonde out of her musings just in time to dodge the surprisingly hard fist of an enchanted training dummy, and cleanly counter by sweeping the legs out from under it.

Lucy spared a glance from where the voice had come from, spotting Hisui standing next to her cheering father in the viewing balcony of the palace training grounds, because apparently, the royal duo had need to check up on how their royal guard was doing in training from time to time.

"Thanks!" She yelled back, before giving the problem at hand her full attention. Twelve enchanted, human sized/shaped training targets stood before her, the one she had just taken down already picking itself off the floor.

These things were way tougher than their soft-looking bodies let on to be, and Lucy could clearly remember the bruises she had received the first day she had gone toe to toe with just two opponents. She had learned quickly to not underestimate them, and grow to hate this part of the training just as much was her king loved it.

The goal was to avoid getting any injury possible, as well as fending blows that came too close and casting the spell that would grant her a win in the eyes of her king. Which meant she had to take down all of her opponents without pausing for too long. Fun.

Toma seemed to also enjoy giving her handicaps to deal with at the same time, both to spice things up (as if fighting multiple opponents at once by herself wasn't _stimulating_ enough, on some days she could use her keys, others her whip, and yet on _others_ she was sometimes helping to train the Rune Soldiers, using them as opponents instead of dummies) and give her practice in casting magic, traditional Gypsy style.

Three of the dummies charged, fists raised as they closed the gap between them and her. She was ready though, her left leg positioned outward in front of her (and through the slit in the side, which Lucy had not noticed when she had first seen the gift) and arms raised above her head.

She exhaled, a faded gold light covering the ground where her left foot touched, and then began her dance. Skillfully, she twisted and maneuvered her way between the converging targets, redirecting and deflecting attacks, paring with her own once or twice before continuing.

Seemingly without purpose, she paused, another glow spreading from her feet before she continued her graceful whirl, more of the dummies joining the fray. Lucy's face showed the first signs of strain, bending over backwards to avoid a well-aimed kick, and then catching the tail end of an elbow by another moving target.

Twice more she had to pause and likely enchant the ground where her feet stopped upon, both spots hardly more than steps from each other compared to the waltz between the first two.

Lucy smiled in relief, feeling a good chunk of her magic vacate her being as the spell she'd set up activated, the glowing patches of ground flaring up, connecting, and a large, pinkish red magic circle was drawn around what could now be seen as the constellation of the ram.

The blonde said nothing, watching as curling flames erupted within the area of the circle, their intense heat making both the fire and smoke a soft pink color, reminding Lucy of a much more firy version of Aries' Wool Bomb, and taking out the training dummies that had previously populated the arena with her.

When the flames cleared, Lucy stood on the last star in the constellation, untouched by the fires she had summoned, while her artificial enemies were nothing more than smoking ash piles. She took a deep breath, in, then slowly let it out, the gigantic magic circle retreating as the magic was dispelled.

"You did great, Lucy!" Hisui called down again, and Lucy smiled back up at her in return.

"Thanks, the dancing is starting to come much more fluidly than before," the blonde replied, moving towards her mentors so she didn't have to shout quite as loudly. "But it's still kind of hard to keep a beat without music,"

"We can work on that later," the green haired girl replied, watching as her father prepped the Viewing Lacrima to replay the dance so they (she) could point out where the blonde could improve.

(Her father would usually try to help by pointing out where she could make things more dramatic, or fun to watch. Usually Hisui would have been exasperated by that habit of her dad's, if not for the fact that what he was talking about would actually help Lucy improve, as enjoying herself would be beneficial to her movements, and the exagerations would make her casting less noticable.)

"And how would we do that?" Lucy asked, entering the balcony from the stairs in the back.

"The coin belt already helps, but only when you move your hips," the princess explained, pointing to a played back image on the Lacrima screen as an example. "We could tie either more coins around your wrists and ankles, or bells. Personally, I think the coins would work better,"

"Yeah, bells wouldn't be close enough to match the already existing sound," Lucy agreed, taking the seat next to the royal jade to watch her practice match. "It would throw me off. But what about an instrument? Finger cymbals wouldn't be too far off,"

"That might work. We'll try it -"

"If you girls are done already-kabo," Toma started, acting in the typical way a man would when two girls talked about what was perceived as girly things. "We still have to review Lucy's progress-kabo,"

Both girls rolled their eyes, but nonetheless turned their complete attention to the screen.

"Well, let's start-kabo," the king said, starting the video.

* * *

Ten months ago, Lisanna would have never pictured the guild could ever be this empty, or that she and the few members remaining in their base would have to cover for everyone else due to another surprise visit from Sorcerer's weekly Magazin's Jason, and his two protégé reporters.

No matter what she and the others in the guild told them, they. Would. Not. _Stop_. Asking the same questions every five minutes with the same amount of enthusiasm they'd used the first time. Especially not after Wakaba had mentioned that both Erza and Mira had been out on missions with their 'boyfriends' recently.

Lisanna and silently cheered when Bisca punched him for being an idiot, because the first thing that Jason did after hearing that was swarm her, asking if it really was true that her sister was dating, who he was, how long they had been together, and where she was.

The white haired girl had given the three reporters vaguely satisfying answers, speaking loudly so that if they tried to question anyone else later, the guild Mages could keep their answers straight.

But for all of her coyness with Jason and his pupils, Lisanna was extremely happy for her sister, who along with Erza, was actually hiding out in the Master's office until the reporters left. More accurately, they had been speaking to the guild leader before the surprise interviewers arrived, and then she had sent Kianna to sneak upstairs and inform them of what was going on after Wakaba had slipped up.

But that was besides the point, and the reporters would leave soon anyway, where she could then go back to gossiping with her sister over how Laxus acted with her versus when he was alone in the guild. So far, the teen could only coo and squeal at the sweet stories her sister was spinning for her.

Suddenly, her thoughts flashed briefly to an image of a certain strange, yet adorably funny member of the Thunder God Tribe. She blushed lightly, shaking her head to clear the image of Bixslow from her mind.

She shouldn't be feeling like this, at least not with how guilty she still felt over Lucy leaving. The white haired teen stilled, her hands no longer moving in the unconscious, rhythmic movement of cleaning the dishes, an endless task even with most people not there.

During the past few months, Lisanna had had plenty of time to turn the events leading up to Lucy's disappearance over in her head, and though Lisanna wasn't as close the blonde as Levy might have been, they could still count on each other as friends, nakama.

The one thing that she kept coming back to, was when she had temporarily taken Lucy's place on Team Natsu. Thinking back on it, they had all been so excited to really catch up with each other, they hadn't asked her as nicely as they could have, and they didn't tell her that she would just go on _that one mission_.

And something in Lisanna's gut, an instinct she had learned to trust both on missions and in life, told her that that event was the lynch pin in her blonde guild mate leaving, probably mistaking the actions as her and Natsu getting together.

Lisanna wasn't surprised; she and Natsu were close childhood friends, which gave the impression that they might one day end up together. But that definitely wasn't the case, because the youngest Strauss sibling thought of the pink haired Dragon Slayer in a way like she thought of Elfman, like a brother, and she was almost certain Natsu saw her as a younger sister, like most of the people in the guild.

So if she followed that line of though - and she had, a long time ago - then it was logical to assume that Lucy leaving, the cause of Natsu, and the rest of their rag-tag family's heartache, was all because of _her_.

"No, it's not," a soft voice said, nearly making Lisanna jump out of her skin. She hadn't been paying attention, and she hadn't expected the first master to be on the counter in front of her, either.

"Not what, Mavis-san?" The girl said, recovering from what had just happened.

"Not your fault that Lucy left," Mavis reiterated, catching the white haired teen off guard once again. "In fact, she predicted you might think like that and told us to tell you that wasn't the reason,"

The white haired girl blinked, baffled. "When did she...?"

The ghost smiled. "Before she left; she was worried you might blame yourself, and she wanted to know you'd be taken care of,"

Lisanna felt gratitude warm the area behind her sternum, the blackening depression that had been their earlier slowly being ebbed away. "That's nice of her...but then why did she leave?"

"You know as well as I do that the strong point of this guild isn't forward thinking, a few people being excluded. And since there's been such a lull in people trying to take over the world," the young girl said, a sardonic twist to her lips. "By some coincidence, everyone in the guild chose to reflect on what's happened to them during those times all at once, blocking out most things but their own thoughts,"

"So she left because we neglected her," Lisanna said, guilt once again sinking it's teeth into her.

"Partially. The other half of it was that she could now go and train without Natsu and Happy interrupting her," Mavis paused, as she thought over whither or not to say what she was about to next. In the end, she decided to continue. "And it's a very good thing she is, too."

Annoyance flashed in Lisanna's blue eyes on her friend's behalf. "Lucy's anything _but_ weak, and I don't know why you'd say - "

The first master giggled, making a 'calm down' gesture towards the wiled up barmaid. "That's not what I meant, but it does make me proud that you're so quick to defend one of our own,"

Lisanna calmed down a bit, placing the clean dishes she had been working with on the drying wrack. "Then what did you mean?"

"Just before she left, Makarov and I discovered she had a unique problem with her magic," the young ghost started, a serious look coming into her eyes. "Lisanna, if I continue telling you about this, you cannot tell _anyone_, and that includes Natsu,"

"I don't think that would be a good idea," she protested, moving another stack of dishes into their proper home. "Natsu's been the one most worried about Lucy, and this sounds like something he'd want to know,"

The spirit shook her head. "No, it would just make him more worried over something that is already coming under control."

The teen thought about it, a beat, then she sighed. "Fine. I won't tell him, so you can continue talking,"

"Alright...we discovered that Lucy has a type of magic that if she didn't start training in right away could lead to an early death, like what happened with her mother." The first stated matter-of-factly, watching Lisanna's horrified reaction out of the corner of her eye. "And before you say anything, we can't do anything to help her but wait for her to finish it on her own,"

"That really sounds like something we need to know, first," the youngest Strauss stated, her eyes shifting between anxiety, curiosity, and horror. "And I don't see why we couldn't just help her train this new magic,"

"Because no matter what anyone did, we would only get in the way," she replied sadly. "Which is why Makarov and I haven't told you where she is, and you're the only one who knows the full circumstances of why she left,"

Lisanna was oddly conflicted by this new revelation. Her masters had known where Lucy was the entire time for the past ten months, not once letting on while they watched their children desperately hound after a cold trail. On the other hand, they were just doing everything in their power to make sure Lucy had what she needed to extend her life, even at the cost of their guild member's trust.

"...why me?" The teen finally asked, spitting out the one thing she couldn't wrap her head around. "Why not Levy, or Erza? Even Cana is closer to Lucy than I am,"

"You already know the answer to that," the ghost said, raising her eyebrows and smirking. "It goes back to what I said earlier,"

Lisanna sighed, leaning her elbows on the bar top, hands scrubbing her face. "You trust I won't interrupt her training, and that I won't blab my mouth off,"

Mavis nodded, hopping off the bar and starting towards the Master's office. "That's exactly right. Now, you may want to come with me; your sister has something she wants to talk about with you, and those reporters still aren't gone yet,"

Lisanna startled, twisting her head to stare out at the guild hall, finding that what her founding Master had said was true. And that Bisca was just seconds away from clocking Jason for interviewing her daughter at point blank range.

Why hadn't they left already? They had been there for at least three hours by now! Wasn't pestering Grey and Juvia about their new relationship enough fodder for them?

The white haired girl was just glad that Alzack was out on a mission; that father was extremely protective his little girl, and Lisanna had no doubt that if he was here, he'd already have a gun out and ready to shoot the moment a camera flashed in his daughter's direction.

"Tell Mira-nee I'm coming," she called out to Mavis, making her way over to the two Connell women. "I need to keep Bisca from killing the paparazzi first,"

Mavis giggled, watching the scene with calmly amused eyes.

Now to deal with the two people in Makarov's study...

* * *

Natsu inhaled the cold, biting winter air, trying to both pick up a scent, and wake himself up from the numbing chill that only ever came from being outside in the dead of a winter night. He held his breath for a second, sorting through the sharp scents of snow and frozen wood and ground, then let the air out through his mouth.

Instantly, the warm breath turned to fog, making the Dragon Slayer look like he was breathing smoke, something that he did after shooting a Roar at some unlucky soul, or getting mad enough. He stood, keenly listening to any sound that was audible in the snow covered woods, branching his senses out to locate where his quarry was hiding out.

He stood like that for the next several minutes, eyes closed, breathing in and out as he focused, the frosty breath coming out of his nose making him look like a sleeping dragon. A dragon that one could tell was awake by a slight tilt of the head as he located what he was looking for.

"Found them," he murmured, as he opened his eyes, gently patting the blue feline nestled in his arms into awareness. "Come on Happy, I found them. If you don't want to fight, then I at least want you awake when you wait outside,"

"Aye..." Came the muffled reply, the exceed snuggling in closer to his adopted father's side. Natsu sighed, consciously raising his body temperature enough to make the cat uncomfortable so that he'd wake up.

"C'mon buddy, the sooner you get up, the sooner you can go back to sleep," Natsu coaxed, watching as the cat grumpily stirred, extending his wings to hover a few inches away from the super heater that was the Dragon Slayer.

"You melted the snow, Natsu," Happy stated, noting the circle of bare ground extending a meter around the man.

Natsu shrugged, not even looking down as he started walking towards the sound he'd heard earlier. "Doesn't matter, we'll be done here soon enough,"

Happy followed, moving around trees and branches when they came his way. "You found the Dark Guild stronghold?"

"Yeah, they're a bit south of here, partying it up like there's no tomorrow," he replied, feet gently crunching on the snow as he also weaver between the trees. He growled, his foot sinking into a rabbit hole hidden by the deep snow, his pant leg filling with the cold material. "Damn it! Why are all the Dark Guilds so far into the woods, or mountains, or fucking cave systems?"

"Uh, because they don't want to be found easily," Happy said, watching the pink haired man blow off a fraction of his pent up frustration. Normally, if a person like Natsu had a lot of pent up negative emotions, it was a safe bet that he could explode at any moment and he should be avoided until he worked it out of his system.

But Happy had never felt like he was in any danger by being with the pink haired man. They had been on the road for a year now, the desolate mood of the late March, early April snow reflecting how they both felt perfectly. Twelve months of looking, twelve months of only each other for company, and twelve months of not finding a single thing about where their favorite blonde had gone.

Their constant wandering and continuous fighting had taken its toll on them. Happy having a notch taken out of his right ear when a bandit's arrow had gotten too close, and Natsu was taller, more muscular, and his refusal to do anything but look for Lucy had caused the ponytail he'd tied up months ago now to reach between his shoulders.

Luckily, the feline had managed to convince him to keep his signature bangs and spikes, the grumbling nineteen years old having to use his reflection in frozen ponds and streams to slice his pink lochs with his overly sharp nails. The result was that the top of his head was messier than ever before, and the blue feline openly speculated what the rest of the guild would think of his 'weird new hair'.

They walked in companiable silence for several minutes, before a sturdy looking stone building came into view as the woods around it faded away. True to what Natsu had said, booming laughter and drunken slurs could be heard from outside the thick stone walls, tankards being clanked together and loud music floating around the otherwise still night.

Natsu croaked his knuckles, eyes scanning the area to see if there was anyone on watch. He was pleased to see there wasn't. "You can wait here, Happy,"

"How long do you think this will take?"

"Ten, twenty minutes, tops," he replied, stretching out his arms and shoulders. "The guys from the Council we tipped off in Dawn City should be here in half an hour,"

"We'll be gone by then," Happy stated, watching as Natsu headed towards the enemy's base. "Be careful, or else we'll have to stop our search while you heal,"

"Don't worry," Natsu said, not looking back. "That won't happen, I'll make sure of it,"

Before Happy could blink, the pink haired man charged at the door, clothes and hair streaming behind him as the wood yielded to his fist. Judging by the sound it caused, Natsu had just taken out a few Mages without even cross the threshold.

The blue feline waited, listening as his partner spent the next twenty minutes questioning people about the whereabouts of Lucy, and then knocking them out when they didn't have the information the two wanted. This would be the third criminal syndicate this month, each one having been a dead end to cross off their list as their deadline got closer and closer.

When the sounds of fighting and screaming stopped, Happy figured it was safe for him to help Natsu tie up the unconscious Mages for the council members coming to pick them up in the next few minutes.

"They didn't know anything, did they?" The cat asked, already knowing the answer, dragging a man over to the group his friend was preparing to wrap in ropes.

The dragon slayer scowled, all the frustration from the last few months evident on his face. "No, they had absolutely nothing on where Luce might be,"

They were both quiet for bit, the disappointment of another useless raid resting on their shoulders as they continued rounding up the bodies. It was Happy who broke the thick tension first, dropping the last of the dark Mages at his partner's feet.

"I miss her, Natsu..."

The pink haired man sucked in a sharp breath, then sighed, securing the knot binding the Mages, leaving them unable to escape should they wake up before the guys from the council arrived to arrest them. "I know, buddy, I really miss her too,"

The cat was about to respond, but a ringing from Natsu's bag cut off whatever he was about to say. Shifting the pack off his shoulders, the Dragon Slayer dug his hand through it until he found the cause of the unexpected noise - a speaking Lacrima Gramps had stuck in his bag just before the two had set out.

Pouring some his magic into the stone, Natsu accepted the incoming connection, and a small image of the tiny guild master appeared on the polished surface.

"Gramps," the teen greeted, a gruffness to his voice since he hadn't been in contact with anyone from the guild except Erza and Happy for over a year. "What'cha calling for? Is Lucy back early?"

The old man blinked, as though surprised by something Natsu had done, before collecting himself and shaking his head. "No, I'm sorry, she's not here my boy,"

"Then why did you call? Me and Happy are busy over here," he stated, turing the Lacrima so that Makarov could see the several groups of tied up men and women who used to be free dark wizards.

"So I've figured from all the news reports about a pink haired man who uses fire magic to take down dark guilds." The old man stated dryly, but Natsu and Happy could see the proud tilt of his lip. "But I contacted you for a reason,"

Natsu raised an eyebrow. "Which is?"

"I want you and Happy to be back here, at Fairy Tail, in one month," the giant Mage stated, continuing over the two other Mages protests as though they hadn't said anything at all. "This is important, Natsu, and I've called everyone back to the guild, not just the two of you,"

"What is more important that finding Luce, Gramps?" He hissed, not believing that anything could trump that as his priority.

"That's a surprise until you get here," Makarov stated. "But I'll make you deal; you get back early, and if you don't think this is as important as finding Lucy, then you can leave and continue the search before the others from the guild even get there,"

The teen thought about it, looking at his blue partner, asking the cat's opinion with his eyes. Makarov didn't just call every one of his Mages from out of the field for no reason, but whatever he was talking about didn't seem like a bad or dangerous thing.

The fire dragon slayer relaxed his posture, and sighed before looking back at his grandfather figure. "Fine. We'll be there in two weeks, give or take a few days,"

Makarov nodded, relief obvious in his features. "In two weeks, then,"

"Yeah, see ya then Gramps," Natsu said, canceling the magic channelling into the Lacrima and cutting off communication. He slipped the stone back into his bag, slinging it over his shoulder as he and Happy made their way out of the stone building.

"I wonder what that was all about," the blue cat stated, picking up his partner to make a faster getaway; they could hear the clink of armor and the _thudthudthud_ of boots as the guards sent by the council closed in the on the trail Natsu'd left in the snow earlier.

The Dragon Slayer shrugged, not sure what to make of it either. "I don't know, but I guess we'll find out in two weeks,"

* * *

**So I changed the summary to something I think fit the plot better. I'm torn between hoping Natsu was depressed enough for you guys, and at the same time still trying to keep him true to his old self. It's rather odd.**

**Besides him, you get a little snippet of Lucy's training as well as my first attempt to write Lisanna in depth. If you guys want more of Lucy's training with Hisui, you'll have to wait for the next chapter where they get into several misadventures with Arcadios and some others ~^.^~**

**Until then, I'll see you guys later!**


	6. A Jade's journey

**Chapter Six**

* * *

**A Jade's journey.**

* * *

"I advise against such a thing, Ojou-sama. I know I said that I would accompany you two into town whenever you wished, but leaving the capital with only me to guard you? It's unsafe, princess,"

"Arcadios..." Hisui sighed, shaking her head slightly before looking over the tall man's shoulder at Lucy, who gave the green haired girl an encouraging nod. Normally, Hisui wouldn't have fought the man about the detail of her security - she understood what it was for, and it'd been going on since long before she could understand that having soilders surrounding you all the time wasn't exactly normal for most people in the first place.

It was normal for a wealthy, or say royal, person, heired guards or kept their own security force for protection, even if now a days the people with the least bit of wealth flaunted it by keeping a detail of thugs around them.

But still, acting like an assassin would jump from every nook and cranny and kill her when she and Lucy were going to be under heavy disguise was just plain ridiculous. Not to mention vaguely insulting.

"Lucy is a Mage that specializes in combat - my father and I are the ones teaching her spells and how to fight, you know!" Hisui stated, forest green eyes boring into those of her guard captain. "And the idea is to not be noticed. A guard squad would bring the attention you want to avoid right to us,"

"Hime..." Arcadios said, pleading with her to reconsider.

"Arcadios, this is not like the dragon incident," Hisui reminded him, a pang of guilt filling her as she noticed the man stiffen. "These are not bloodthirsty beasts here to eat us; these are my subjects. How could I ever try and rule them when I don't even know what their lives are like, if I don't see it through their eyes?"

"Besides," Lucy interjected, sensing that the man's resolve against them going on this trip was wavering. The two others turned to give her their attention. "She's loved by the people, so even if our cover is blown, we're not going to be attacked,"

"But-"

"Please," Hisui pleaded, clutching her hands in front of her chest. "You've known me my entire life - when was the last time I asked for something like this?"

Arcadios sighed, his shoulders slumping in defeat. Lucy and Hisui shared similar hopeful looks over his shoulder, before they squealed in excitement, rushing forward to clasp hands and do a three-step dance.

"I have one condition, though, hime," the tall man stated, coughing slightly as the two girls cut their celebration short to give him their full attention. "In the case that our identities are uncovered, we come right back here - no fuss, no arguments, and no delays,"

Lucy and the royal jade shared a look out of the corner of their eyes, before nodding. It was more than what they thought they were going to get, which was a complete shut-down of their plans to travel around and out of the capital.

"We can live with that," Hisui shrugged, she and the blonde grabbing Arcadios by his armored elbows, much to his confusion. "Now, let's get you into a less conspicuous outfit,"

"What-"

"If we're going to be acting like actual Gypsies, we're going to have to start with how we look," Lucy stated, cutting the man off, and pulling him down the halls and towards a room where they had set up multiple disguises for Arcadios to try out. "Hisui and I have our stuff already packed,"

"So that leaves you," the princess finished, and much to the Imperial captian's horror, giggled as she and her companion shoved him into their destination.

It wasn't long before they had forced him into a loose, cotton tie-up shirt like the kind that pirates wore, dark green harem pants, black, thick-soled boots up to his knees, a maroon vest with green embroidery, as well as a bandana and sash in the same color.

Don't forget to mention that he also had a dagger in each shoe, and a sword visibly hanging from his left hip.

Taking a glance at the mirror while the two girls packed an enchanted satchel with the rest of his clothes, Arcadios almost didn't recognize himself. "Hime, I look like the average criminal!"

"Rude." Lucy huffed, moving away from her packing to glare up at the tall man, hands placed dangerously on her hips. "You're dressed like a man from a Gypsy tribe; not a thief!"

Arcadios sighed, motioning placatingly with his hands to calm the blonde. "I apologize, but I still haven't been told what your plans are - just that I've been talked into escorting you around Fiore by myself for an unknown amount of time,"

Lucy blinked, before she smiled sheepishly. "So we didn't...whoops,"

Hisui rolled her eyes, roughly handing the guard captain his new pack. "We're taking a break from training in the castle. You can only learn so much about a wandering people by staying in one place,"

"Besides," Lucy continued. "It'd be fun to live like our ancestors did,"

"Exactly," the princess agreed, turning to leave the room, the other two following behind her. "But with that being said, I'll meet you guys at the stables after I finish getting changed as well."

There was an awkward silence between Arcadios and the Celestial as the green princess left them behind. The tall man shuffled his feet, neither sure exactly what they should do to break the tension in the air.

Lucy cleared her throat. "So, should we go to the stables?"

"Yeah, yeah, let's," the guard captain hastily agreed, falling in step alongside the blonde woman. Arcadios knew all the ways in and out and around the castle (it was his job), and he wasn't sure he'd want to walk all the way across the palace grounds with a weirdness between the two of them. "Is there a reason why you two are suddenly dissatisfied with simple trips into the city?"

"No, not really," Lucy replied, shoulders relaxing as the last of the awkwardness fled. "We've just been thinking this is something we should do - sort of a late way to honor our moms, I guess,"

"That's right...next week is Mother's Day, isn't it?" The tall man said witsfully, holding a door open for the blonde. Lucy nodded sadly, turning down a flight of stairs to get to the ground floor.

"Hisui told me that her mom's family had become largely successful in the trading industry sometime during the middle of Fiore's history," the blonde explained, even though the man probably knew most of these facts already. "Gypsies supposedly have haggling in their blood. But anyway, yeah, holding onto the money they earned, they eventually became nobles and therefore the king and queen could marry.

"And this is how Hisui came to be," Lucy embellished, making a 'ta-da!' motion with her hands. "But she also told me that her mom's family never lost touch with their roots, which was how Hisui was able to teach me to dance,"

"I was...unaware that Ojou-sama was the one who taught you that," the guard captain said, a drop of sweat running down his cheek as he recalled the times he had watched the men under his command get distracted by the blonde's entrancing movement when they sparred.

Lucy giggled at the man's uncomfortable expression, wincing slightly as they stepped out into the bright afternoon sunlight, the stables already in view. Not wasting another second, blonde hurried over to the first stall - empty of its horse - and removed the two traveling packs she and the princess had stashed there the day before.

Arcadios raised an eyebrow. "Why are your belongings here?"

"Because if you didn't agree to come with us, then Hisui and I would have left anyway," Lucy winked at the thunderstruck expression on the man's face, not at all repentant. "Makes you glad you agreed, doesn't it?"

The man muttered something under his breath as he grudgingly brought out a horse - a dappled grey mare - for the blonde to saddle and prep to leave while he started on the princess's white mare. He was halfway through with securing the bridle on his own hulking chestnut stallion when the royal jade regrouped with them.

The green haired girl had donned a pale green skirt the color of the dress she usually wore, divided into four sections of fabric tired off with wide white ribbons at her ankles, and a white crop top cut off at the bottom of her ribs. She had an extra bag in her hands, and had removed a lot of the jewelry she normally had on to ease suspicions.

"Are we ready to go?" She asked, slinging the bag to her feet as she looked between her two companions.

"Yes, we are nearly ready to depart," Arcadios stated, heels clicking together and fist rising over his heart in a customary salute to the royal heiress.

Hisui rolled her eyes, sharing a knowing look with Lucy. The blonde girl just shook her head, going back to petting her mare. "Arcadios, you do know that as soon as we're outside the palace grounds, you're going to have to stop that, right?"

The man blinked, then nodded, though Lucy noted it was a bit hesitant, like he had to make major mental adjustments to simply switch around honorifics. "Hisui...-sama, then?"

The green haired girl quirked an eyebrow, not even glancing sideways as her blonde friend cut off a snicker. "More like 'Jade-san'. My real name is known to the entire country, as well as some of my appearance. Since dying my hair would be a waste of time, I'll be going by an alias instead,"

"Then will Lucy-sama and I be changing our names for the time as well?" Arcadios inquired, perfectly okay with changing what he would be called for the sake of his ruler.

"Lucy is fine, since it's not a very uncommon name, and her appearance has changed some since the GMG. You're not as widely know as either of us, but if you want, we can call you 'Dios' or something," the princess replied, helping her friend onto the grey mare before the guard captain did the same for her. "But don't call either of us '-sama', please,"

"Yes, Jade-san," Arcadios gave another salute over his heart, then turned to mount his own steed. "Are we set to leave, ladies?"

The girls exchanged another amused look, before Lucy suddenly kicked her horse into a gallop, leaving the other two in the dust.

"Race you to the edge of town!" She shouted over her shoulder, a playful gleam in her eyes as her golden braid swung in wild arcs behind her.

"No fair! You got a head start!" Hisui protested, kicking her mare into gear and chasing after her companion. Arcadios let out a sigh, having a feeling that this trip had more to do with taking a vacation than actual studying.

* * *

"That was a good meal," Lucy sighed contentedly, hand resting on her flat stomach contentedly, receiving sounds of agreement from her two companions. After a three days of traveling, they had reached Era, home of the magic council, the first major city en route of their wandering, and the first town they had managed to make enough money in by dancing to grab an actual meal instead of the jerky and trail mix stashed in their bags.

"We should have brought more money..." Hisui said, peering in at the few remaining Jewel in her money pouch. Despite having most things paid for her already by her father, managing money was supposedly in her blood yet it was painfully obvious she lacked experience, if their current findings were any indication. "We should do another dance across town, see if we can earn anything else before moving on,"

"Perhaps," Arcadios replied, taking a careful sip of tea as he addressed the princess. "But despite being the council's headquarters, Era is not that big. Your performance was in the middle of town, and there are few places here wide enough for a full routine. Most people aren't likely to pay for a repeat performance, either,"

Lucy groaned, hitting her head against the table and starling some of the other customers who gave their table odd looks. "I don't know whether to be annoyed by how cheap the people here are, or by how expensive it is to eat at a restaurant in this city."

"It can't be helped," Hisui said soothingly, a small smile on her face as she placed the necessary amount of Jewel on the table, plus a tip for their waitress. "We'll just have to move on."

The three started leaving, collecting their belongings and heading towards the door when a hesitant voice called out to them. "Excuse me..." The three turned to see a girl, several years younger than Hisui and Lucy's age with black hair mostly covered by a white bandana.

What the group really noticed about her though, was the intricate, circular henna marks climbing her exposed arms like vines. The girl's blue eyes carefully scrutinized their every detail in return, taking in their outfits, appearance, and bags before they broke into a gleeful expression. "You guys wouldn't happen to be looking for a caravan to join, would you?"

Hisui blinked, taken aback by how eager the girl seemed. Lucy rubbed her eyes, strangely reminded of the first time she and Natsu had met and she wouldn't stop talking about Fairy Tail. "Er...can't say we were, but I take it you're looking for people to come with you?"

The girl nodded, eagerly taking Hisui's hands in a pleading way, eyes suddenly doleful and pleading. The three sweatdropped. "It's such a tragedy! We're down a few people this month, and with out them we might not make enough money to get all the way to Clover Town! And- and even if we manage to get there, we might not have enough workers to cover our expenses! Please? Pleasepleaseplease? We offer food and bed rolls, and Maggie is an awesome cook!"

Hisui looked from the girl to her traveling companions, and unsure look on her face. Arcadios inclined his chin, indicating that he would do as his ruler commended. Lucy gave an amused shake of her head, shrugging her shoulders as if saying that it was the green haired girl's call.

Hisui thought about it carefully, but one look at the large, pouting blue eyes of the girl crumbled her desire to say no. It wouldn't be so bad; there wasn't any real reason for the princess to reject the offer, and it wasn't like Clover town was that far away on foot. A week at max, and then the two parties could part ways and Lucy and Hisui could slowly wander back across the country to Crocus with Arcadios grumbling under his breath about leaving his position for so long.

"Alright, we'll come with you to Clover," Hisui sighed, taking a step back in surprise as the girl gave her a flying huge, nearly knocking the royal jade down on her rear in her excitement.

"Yay! Thank you, thank you!" The girl hopped up and down gleefully, hold on Hisui still not relinquished, much to Arcadios's displeasure. Finally, she did let go, only to take the princess by the one hand, and a surprised Lucy by the other. "C'mon! I'll take you to meet the others! We're going to be stuck with each other for days on end, so you might as well get to know them."

"Ah, excuse me...miss whatever your name is," Lucy started, letting the girl - who she guessed to be about thirteen or fourteen - drag her out of the restaurant and into the streets of Era.

"It's Keren," the girl interrupted, half looking over her shoulder at the blonde. "Don't worry about learning everyone's names at once, since even if there aren't that many of us we tend to know a lot of people that come and go. I'll introduce you to the people who've been in the group the longest, if you want,"

"That's nice..." The spirit summoner continued, using her free hand to point back towards the restaurant. "But our horses and belongings are back that way,"

Keren froze mid-step, a pink flush spreading across her face before she whipped around and rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. "Whoops..."

The girls giggled at her expense, even though they hadn't gotten very far and Arcadios had predicted them turning around to get the horses, having untangled the reins from a stand to the side of the building for people to dock their steeds and grab a bit to eat. He had even started to half walk them over to them.

Keren blinked, then gave a low whistle as she she examined the horses with a practiced eye, sizing them up and even going as far as to run her hands over Hisui's horse to examine how well groomed the fur was, as well as feel the animal's muscles first hand.

"This is a well bread horse," the blue-eyed girl stated simply, giggling as the mare nudged her, as though the horse sensed it had been given a complement. "All three of them are, really. They must have been pretty expensive,"

"They were, er, gifts from a wealthy person we helped out a while back," Lucy hastily improvised, shooting her two companions a slightly panicked glance. "He made a business of trading livestock, I think,"

Luckily for them, Keren didn't push the matter, and within the next few minutes they were riding towards the eastern outskirts of Era, Lucy leading the way with the younger teen sitting in front of her as they made their way along the city streets.

"So, how many people are there going to be, Keren-san?" Hisui asked, having listened to the girl all but dool over what a person named 'Maggie' - who Keren had said earlier was a good cook - would be making for dinner that night, and how everyone in the caravan loved her cooking.

"Well, me and Maggie for starters, then we have Marcus, Maggie's husband and the guy who runs our group. He's really nice, even if he's kinda strict." The young girl stated, blue eyes facing up towards the sky as the seemed to recall every face and name she knew in her traveling group. "There's a lot of other people, like thirty spread out between the different jobs and stuff, not to mention we have people coming and going all the time, so if you're just going to be with us until Clover town you don't have to know everyone's names,

"With that being said, you should know that Sid is the one who usually takes care of the horses, and if you see a rude guy with orange hair and some tinkering device in his hands, just ignore him," Keren huffed, and Lucy raised an eyebrow at the teen's pout.

"Can I ask why?" The blonde asked, watching the corner of Keren's eyes crinkle in annoyance, though not directed at the summoner.

"He's my stupid brother; he doesn't let me do anything by myself, and he treats me like I'm six!" The black haired girl complained, and Lucy and Hisui secretly shared a snicker at the sibling bond.

Still, having been an only child, Hisui couldn't help but feel a pang of envy in her chest. She couldn't exactly speak for Lucy, since the blonde had found people she could consider siblings within Fairy Tail, but the princess had only recently become friends with the summoner, and hadn't been through enough to be bonded like family.

While she had had maids and the children of visiting dignitaries to play with when growing up in Mercurius, the recipient of her strongest bond of friendship happened to be sitting not four feet away, and had been sentenced to death upon their first face-to-face encounter over Lacrima.

Funny how that worked, since from the stories Lucy had told her, the 'Person-Wants-To-Kill-You; Beat-Person-Up/Prove-Person-Wrong-And-Become-Friends-Afterwards' approach seemed to be a common trend in Fairy Tail. She was glad for that, though, since now she had someone, someone outside the castle, someone who she knew acknowledged rank but erased the line anyway, and for that reason she knew the gypsy was someone she could just let go and not pretend with.

Arcadios, for all of his well meaning intentions and loyalty to the crown, did not quite understand the mind of teenage girl, and even the friendship Hisui had formed with Jude was nothing like the one she shared with his daughter, an actual peer, an equal that she could talk to as such and not be judged by people who wouldn't understand how lonely a seat of wealth really was.

Politics sucked, and greed and power-struggles caused by such useless desires left those caught up in it blind until they ended up back where they had started - at rock bottom, with nothing but bitter memories, the taste of sweet success, and the scorn of those in the status they had just fallen from.

Which was how she had met Jude in the first place. Contrary to what Arcadios and her father knew, Hisui had sneaked out of the palace and wandered through Crocus in disguise for short periods of time; usually she just sat at an outdoor café and watched people, or she hung around the apprentices of one of the many merchant guilds and tried to learn money managing from people who actually worked the kingdom's economic means, and not stuffy old stock-mongers who hadn't been in the swing of things since the time of her grandfather's rule.

It was chance that some merchants from the guild Love&Lucky in Aclypha had some things to discuss in the capital, and it was also chance that Jude happened to have enough free time while other dealings were in progress to tell his story to a girl, who for all intents and purposes reminded him of his missing daughter.

Even after he had departed back to Aclypha, Hisui had thought to keep the exchange going by sending letters, which had promptly lead to the princess learning most of what she knew about Lucy before she'd even met the blonde in person, and finding herself extremely grateful that the former Heartphilia heiress believed in second chances.

"We're here!" Keren shouted gleefully, immediately jerking Hisui out of her thoughts, the sudden motion making the horse knicker in protest and Arcadios to move closer to her and see if she had a problem.

The black haired girl didn't notice, practically throwing herself off Lucy's mare as they pulled up next to a multitude of tents and wagons, an assortment of horses and other beasts of burden- magical and non-magical alike - being lead and hitched up to the carts, and people in colorful outfits of all shapes and sizes carried goods to load and sell at Clover.

A woman, possibly in her mid fifties with loose grey hair and a kind but weathered face, noticed the four of them, and a smile broke out across her face as she caught sight of the blue eyed teen heading her way. "Keren! Good to see you back so soon; I thought we might have to send someone to go and fetch you,"

Keren rolled her eyes, a light blush visible on her tanned cheeks. "Geez, you miss curfew once and you never live it down, I swear Maggie,"

Maggie's eyes twinkled good-naturedly at the teen, before they moved to take in the people she had brought with her. "And who are these people you've brought with you? I don't think I've seen them in our group before,"

Keren shook her head, excitedly slinging an arm around both Lucy and Hisui's shoulders, both of whom had dismounted while Keren had greeted the old woman. "These guys are going to help us with the big shipment to Clover town! They're, uh..."

Maggie sighed, but didn't look surprised at the girl's pause. The three from the capital sweat dropped, wondering how they managed to get this far without Keren asking their names.

"Really, Ren?" A new voice asked, dragging the group's attention to a tall man with tanned skin, dark blue work pants, a white pirate-shirt, a head of bright, saffron colored hair, and hands that were mindlessly working away at something metal, even when his piercing blue eyes were trained solely on his sister. "I could have sworn you still had the manners to ask people their names before you drag them into work."

Keren's face flushed a deeper shade of red, a tick mark appearing on her head. "Shut it, Taj-nii! I don't want to hear it from someone like you!"

The man raised an eyebrow, unimpressed with his sister's outburst, whereas Maggie just quietly stifled a laugh. Hisui just stood there awkwardly with her companions, coughing lightly to try and get themselves back into the loop.

"Keren, it's not nice to ignore the guests you invited," Maggie finally said as Keren's one-sided argument with her brother dragged on. "Really girl, where are your manners today?"

"I'm so sorry!" The girl said, whirling around and bowing at a ninety degree angle repeatedly. The group from Crocus once again sweat dropped, but Hisui, taking pity on the obviously mortified girl, put a settling hand on her shoulder to calm Keren down.

"It's fine, Keren-san," the Royal jade stated reassuringly, gesturing to herself, Lucy, and Arcadios. "Excited people tend to forget things. My name is Jade; my companions are Lucy and Dios. We've agreed to help you trade and sell goods in and on the way to Clover, as well as whatever you need help with setting things up.

"With that being said, do you mind telling us where to take the horses and putting us to work?" Hisui looked towards Maggie, thinking that the older woman would have more authority over job assignments.

The grey haired woman gave her an appraising look, carefully scrutinizing the three of them. Hisui felt she might as well have been laid out on an examination table, with all of her skills and assets out in the open. For a brief moment, the green haired girl had the irrational fear that her deception was too simple to avoid being found out.

Thankfully, it seemed she passed whatever standard Maggie had for newbies, and within five minutes Lucy had been sent to help organize trade goods, Arcadios was told to help some of the men move the heavier supplies, and Hisui found herself taking inventory with Keren's brother, Taj.

The princess hadn't heard him speak since he first scolded his sister nearly twenty minutes ago, and it was lucky for her that she was familiar with the system the caravan used to keep track of things, or else she would have been rather at a loss on how she was supposed to fill out her clip board.

As it was, the most common thing the caravan had to trade was spices, some even she hadn't heard of in all her years of learning Fiore's imports and exports. But what caught her eye was not the variety of seasoning, but these little, intricate clock-work tinker-toys in the shape of animals, vehicles, and people.

Hisui had a suspicion that the one who made them was the same person who was standing next to her, lazily chewing on a raw cinnamon stick while marking down the contents of the last wagon.

Now that Hisui had had more time to look, she had to admit, Taj wasn't so bad to look at, with crystalline blue eyes and brilliant saffron hair contrasting each other within the span of his face, and a lean yet seemingly powerful frame that was at odds with how slender and dexterous his fingers were.

She blinked, and mentally gave herself a good scolding. She sounded like some dreamy-eyed fifteen year old girl who had never seen a man in her life. Besides, she didn't think Keren would much appreciate Hisui going after her brother within only an hour of...well, she couldn't say she _knew_ him all that much, but she had certainly _met_ him.

And even if the Royal Jade was that kind of girl, she already had an arranged marriage on her shoulders to the heir of some noble house she'd never met in person. It was the only real sore-point between her and her father; he'd always let her have many freedoms given her position as princess, and yet he himself had married for love.

Hisui knew these kinds of things happened a lot (it was common enough knowledge that Lucy had run away to join Fairy Tail at the news of her father getting ready to hand her off), but she just didn't understand _why_ her father, of all people, was in that band wagon.

Hisui sighed, lightly shaking her head to clear her depressing thoughts. Instead, she slung the clipboard under her arm and picked up a miniature clockwork piece in the shape of a tightly closed flower. Twisting the silver rod around, the Royal Jade noticed the mechanism was a leaf, pressed tightly to the stalk, and when pulled down would cause the flower itself to open in a graceful twirl, the petals of the inner flower ranging in color from jasper to blue, oxidized titanium.

"Gorgeous," Hisui breathed, resetting the trinket to see the full effects once again. It did not disappoint, the polished petals dazzling just as grandly in the late afternoon sun as they had a second ago.

"...thanks," Taj muttered awkwardly, and the princess was so surprised to hear him speak that she almost missed the light blush on his cheeks.

So he _did_ make all those windup toys. Hisui put the flower back (albeit regretfully), before turning to walk in step with the Orange haired man, a small smile on her face as some of the reservations she had about this trip were laid to rest.

* * *

**So tired... Mashima, y u do that? I had plans to bring in Igneel and everything, and now I'll probably have to start putting up labels or something that says 'canon-divergance.'**

**Whatever...in typical Trollshima style, you have covered minor plot holes all over the series (such as Fried's 'No-Passing-Over-Eighty' rune wall in the thunder palace arc) with one stone, although the connection to Layla is still unknown if even substantial.**

**Leave me a nice review to wake up to? Or just go off on me about how you want more Lucy and less Hisui/OCs? I don't mind at this point, I'm just going to bed.**

**Oh, and thanks to my friend Natalie for proof reading this for me. With that being said, good night folks.**


	7. A town of Clovers

**Chapter seven**

* * *

**A town of Clovers.**

* * *

If there was one thing Lucy found more annoying than perverts, it was bandits. Especially since they mostly happened to be perverts most of the time, as well as weak nuisances on missions with the tendency to gang up on people.

It was an unfortunate fact, however, that besides dark wizards and the guilds they belonged to laying in wait to ambush traveling groups, bandits and other non-magical highway robbers practically chocked off any rural short cut between towns. It made great hired work for legal wizarding guilds, but as far as Lucy knew, Marcus (who she had met two days ago at dinner when the three of them had first joined the troupe) hadn't taken many, if any, measures against an attack.

Maybe he thought they had strength in numbers, or that there were some decent fighters in the group (she could believe that, since many of the men were bulked up from constantly moving around heavy shipments), but it would be null and void if there was a decent mage on the opposition.

So she wasn't surprised when, on the third day of traveling, and the second night of camping out on the trail, that the bushes on either side of them exploded with men carrying weapons and armor.

(If anything, she was a bit annoyed it had taken them so long to actually do something, since they had barely managed to hide their presence within the three hours of stalking them to the ambush.)

"Defense!" Marcus commanded, acting every bit the rune knight guard captain he was twenty years ago before retiring. Instantly, the heavy-lifters (including Arcadios) engaged the first wave bandits, the sounds of steel clashing, horses whinieing, and indignant shouts echoed between the wagons. "Don't let them get to the wagons!"

Lucy didn't think that would last long. Even if they had the better quality fighters, they were out numbered almost three to one. Following the briefing Marcus had given them before leaving Era, Lucy headed towards the largest wagon where Maggie was to help ready the sleeping potions.

Hisui was already there waiting for her, perched on the wooden roof of the wagon while Maggie and two other women handed out both short daggers and thin ballons with the sleeping draught. The princess extended a hand for Lucy to grab on to, and the blonde took a running jump, using the princess's arm as a way to clamber her self up.

The green haired girl grinned, a somewhat savage expression lurking just on the edge of it. "First bandit raid! You've been in these things before, right? Who's winning?"

Lucy rolled her eyes, not at all surprised Hisui was acting like this; being in the midst of actual action must have awakened the traces of her father the girl kept locked up for a sense of decency. She hoped that the princess out grew that little bit of her nature; while battle was the perfect place for bloodlust, restraint had also found its home there.

The king, while a good and fair ruler, had never seen a battle more extreme than when the dragons had made it through the Eclipse gate. True, that battle was very intense, but the king had neither participated in the fighting, nor ever sent his country out to war, instead choosing to remain neutral like his forfathers.

It was one thing to fight what might be considered a monster, and another to fight a fellow person, made even more confusing when the line between them was blurred, or circumstances shifted who was on what side in a fight. War was definitely not the game the Royal family might believe it to be.

For all Lucy trusted Hisui as a friend, tactician, and economist (not to mention future ruler), the girl lacked conflict experience, which was why the blonde would try and keep her out of the fight for as long as possible, since engaging with the bandits was inevitable.

The Celestial wizard scanned the scene, taking in the varying ways that the groups were fighting. From her position on top of the wagon, she had an excellent view. "Hard to say at this point, but it seems like Dios is making himself indisposible out there,"

Hisui snorted, a hint of pride in her eyes. "He's the captian of our guard for a reason," the green haired girl leaned forward, eyes shaded with one hand as she scanned the throng of fighting bodies, making her blonde companion worry she might fall off. The princess pointed, and Lucy followed her gaze. "Is that Keren?"

The blonde summoner's eyes widened in surprise, confirming for herself that the black-and-white streak really was the teen who had brought them to the caravan. "It is. What's she doing? That stuff in her arms - is she pick pocketing the bandits?"

"You bet she is," Maggie shouted up towards them, her upper body angled out of the back of the wagon so that she could see the two girls. "Some of the others are out there too; small people who are light on their feet and have quick hands make a great secondary force in disarming enemies while the heavy hitters have most of their attention,"

"Makes sense," Lucy said, grudging respect creeping into her voice at the clever plan. "But what happens if they get caught?"

"We usually have some people with good aim throw different potions as a distraction," Maggie explained, pointing towards another wagon equipped what seemed to be miniature catapults, their polished metal gleaming in the sun as a pair of women prepped them for use. "Or we use those,"

Hisui quirked an eyebrow. "Let me guess - Taj?"

"The boy is a mechanical genius," Maggie said with no little pride, watching as said orange haired boy loaded and released one of his catapults at a small group of bandits that managed to break from the line of fighting. The potion-filled ballon hit one dead in the face, and immediately he and his two cohorts dropped, the sleeping liquid having splashed on both of them as well.

"That I don't doubt," Hisui said, having to raise her voice to be heard over a sudden wave of shouting from the bandits. "But I saw how many of those potions we had stocked; it's not enough to keep ninety-some-odd bandits in line,"

"I know, but Marcus- Keren!" Maggie cut off, and both girls whipped around to see the young teen being by the root of her hair by a large bandit, the weapons she had lifted off his allies on the ground in front of her and finding their way back into the fight.

Next to Lucy, Hisui gasped, and before the blonde could do anything, the green haired princess had launched herself off the top of the wagon and in front of the offending bandit, in the center of their forces.

Lucy swore under her breath before she too leaped into the fray, enough power in her legs to clear the twenty foot jump, and deliver a devistating flying kick to the man that held Keren hostage. He dropped her, the momentum of the blow causing him to fly back into several of his allies.

The blonde fell into a defensive stance, eyes trying to pick out which enemy would attack first while Hisui helped Keren back to her feet. "Is she okay?"

"I'm good," the young teen replied, sorely rubbing her scalp as the princess held her other elbow to steady her. "Thanks,"

The blonde didn't reply, a twinge of annoyance at the Royal jade's actions in her chest as she spun around the blow of a bandit's sword, disarming him and throwing him over her shoulder and back at his friends. Hisui should have known better than blindly charging into a fight - her first _real_ fight without a second thought.

An hour later, with many shouts, sleeping potions, and ropes later, the bandits had been knocked out and tied up, with a few people having gone a head to the next town fifteen minutes ahead to fetch the police and file the incident reports.

Lucy stiffly turned to face Hisui, having just finished securing the knot on a bandit, Arcadios standing behind her. "_What_ were you thinking!? You don't jump into a situation like that without warning, Jade!"

The green haired girl recoiled, clearly not expecting the blonde to blow up at her. "What? I was helping Keren; she was in trouble, Lucy!"

"And her brother had a potion set and ready to be fired in her defense," the summoner stated dryly, arms crossed. "I know you've seen fighting before, and I know that you _can_ fight Jade, but you've never fought outside of a controlled environment. You can't just jump in to a free-for-all and expect things to turn out alright!"

And what she said was true; Lucy had seen times when her guild mates, the weaker, less known ones, tried to imitate the stronger members like Natsu, or Erza and rush into a fight they had to be bailed out of five seconds later. If Lucy knew the princess had as much power - and confiedence in her skills - as any of Fairy Tail's top members, she wouldn't have been raising such a fuss.

But as it was, the only people Hisui had ever sparred were soilders and enchanted dummies, both of which were nothing compared to the real world brawls the princess would have to be a part of now that she was out of the palace.

Lucy was...disappointed, probably, at the lack of judgement her friend had displayed when the girl was usually concise and rational, not to mention mindful of her position as the freaking heiress of Fiore.

"Really, Lucy? You of all people are yelling at me about this, even with your G- where you come from?" The princess protested, disbelief obvious in her voice even as she hurriedly her near slip up.

"It _exactly_ because of where I come from that I can scold you! I've seen what it takes to pull off what you just tried to do, and I don't care if you think you were justified; yes it's great that Keren is safe, but the situation was already covered,"

"You're being unreasonable," Hisui said, looking over to Arcadios for support. The guard captian remained neutral, and even Keren, who had been looking over the argument with a decided frown avoided eye contact with the stunned princess.

"Fine," the Royal Jade said coldly, turning on her heels and walking away. "I'll be with Maggie, if you guys need me,"

"Jade..." Kere said, taking a step after the older teen when Arcadios's hand on her shoulder stopped her. The tall man shook his head.

"Let her be for now. Jade-san...has had a life sheltered from most forms of conflict. What she specializes in is more mental work than physical, and it would seem some of her confidence has been misplaced," he stated, taking his hand off Keren's shoulder, eyes following his ruler's retreating form before turning and watching her blonde counterpart head in the opposite direction.

"But she didn't do anything wrong, and we didn't get hurt," Keren protested weakly.

Arcadios sighed. "That's not the point, Keren-san, and like this it's better for her to think about what she's done from Lucy's point of view, and for Lucy to do the same."

"Until then, we're all going to be walking on eggshells," the black haired teen said with a roll of her blue eyes. "Fun,"

* * *

Lucy closed the book she had been reading with a sigh, reaching over her shoulder to putting it back on the shelf she was sitting up against. Her argument with Hisui yesterday was killing any concentration she might have had as her thoughts circled around the events like a vulture.

She just didn't understand how someone like Hisui could suddenly forget the fact that she had to remain unharmed, since not only did the green haired girl's lively hood depend on it, the _entire freaking kingdom's_ did as well. No matter how justified the act was, it didn't change the fact that Keren was _fine_.

Lucy stood up from her seat against the bookshelf, and wandered instead out towards the courtyard of the magic college she had chosen to visit in her free time, thinking that the academic environment would calm her nerves.

Instead her mood seemed to be ruining it for her.

Stepping out into the fresh air, Lucy noticed a small group of children in the opposite side of the field, a single elderly wizard watching over them as they repeatedly practiced a single, familiar motion. She moved closer.

"Very good," Lucy could hear the the old woman croon. "You'll all be summoning spirits within the week!"

The blonde summoner bit back a snort; the kids didn't have the magic levels needed to bridge the rift between Earthland and the Spirit Realm just yet, even if they were just summoning a Canis Minor.

"And who might you be?" The woman asked Lucy, as she left her class behind to engage the blonde. "You're a bit old for my class...are you one of their siblings? A parent?"

Lucy's eyebrow twitched at the 'parent' comment. She was two months away from being nineteen; the kids had to be at least eight, at the very youngest, and twelve at the oldest. The blonde was _way_ to young to be considered their parents.

"Neither," the celestial mage said tersly, one hand patting the key pouch on her hip. She had cleverly surrounded her golden keys with the several silver ones she had, so she wasn't too concerned about the woman identifying her. Not to mention, she had on a blue gypsy face mask. "I'm just watching."

"Ah, a fellow Celestial Wizard!" The woman exclaimed cheerfully, grabbing both the attention of her students and Lucy's arm. "Would you mind giving the kiddies some pointers? As someone who clearly has contracts with many spirits, you can show them how it's done. An example, perhaps,"

As Lucy was about to respond with a solid 'no', the took not of their conversation, and each one seemed eager to express their opinion on a new teacher.

"Really?"

"She's going to summon something?"

"Please, miss? Pretty, pretty please?"

"With a cherry on top?"

Who would Lucy be to say no to the mass of pleading eyes known as children? Resigning herself, Lucy mentally took note which silver spirits her contacts would allow her to summon, and she pleasently noticed that Lyra was open.

In a single motion, Lucy detatched the key from the ring, and in a downward swipe opened the gate. "Gate of the Harp, I open thee! Lyra!"

In a cloud of pink smoke, the music spirit manifested, and immediately glomped her owner. "Luuu! You haven't summoned me in forever!" She whined, and the children watched with excitement as the two girls interacted.

"Sorry, Lyra, but it's been neither the time nor place for a while," the blonde apologized, as the spirit released her. "And I did summon you for all three of your open days each month for a while not too long ago,"

"I know, but still," the harp player pouted. "So what did you summon me for today? Are we going to train again?"

"No," Lucy shook her head, then pointed towards the gaping group of children. The spirit followed her gaze, and her eyes widened when she saw they were all holding a silver key. "We somehow got roped into helping them summon a Nickola, or at least demonstrating how to summon a spirit."

Lyra cocked her head in confusion. "So why did you summon me instead of Plue-chan?"

"You also have a Nickola spirit?" The woman chimed in, and the spirit and owner both looked to her. "Do you mind if you summoned that please? My contract with Kota - my Nickola - is void on Tuesdays,"

Lucy sighed, but grabbed Plue's key anyway. She didn't even say the chant, as she was more familiar with the little white spirit, and her magic was strong enough to bypass such steps. "Plue!"

The carrot-nosed dog poofed into existence next to Lyra, and the old teacher's eyes bugged out of her skull.

"T-two spirits at once!" She stated, and Lucy blinked at her. The impact of what she had just done in the eyes of the other wizard slowly sinking in.

Lucy had totally forgotten that summoning two spirits at once was one of the most difficult things a celestial mage could accomplish. She hardly noticed the strain on her magic with keeping both Plue and Lyra's gates open, since they were silver keys and therefore didn't require as much magic as their gold counterparts.

And she had enough magic and experience to summon three spirits at once (all of which had been gold, might she add), even if she was _never_ going to do that again. For very obvious reasons.

The kids didn't seem to understand what was so impressive, though.

"Yeah, so Kazumi-sensei?" A boy stated. "Yukino of Sabertooth and Lucy of Fairy Tail did that during the Grand Magic Games last time,"

"And those two girls are magical juggernauts of two of the strongest guilds in the country. They can be considered celestial wizards among celestial wizards; the cream of the crop," the woman, now identified as Kazumi-sensei, stated. "If lesser wizards tried the same thing, they would die of magic exhaustion,"

Lucy blushed under her gauzy gypsy face mask at the indirect praise, Lyra discreetly nudging her with her elbow. The spirit smirked at her owner's embarrassment. "Yeah, they're very powerfully, not to mention nice to their spirits,"

"So you're strong?" A little girl asked, tugging on her skirt and looking up at Lucy with what might have been a hero worship in her big puppy dog eyes. "Lu-sensei?"

The other kids joined her, gathering around her until she was blocked in on all sides by little bodies. Thankfully, Kazumi interveined before Lucy was overwhelmed, pointedly telling the kids that Lucy would take her spirits and leave if they weren't on their best behavior.

"Now let's see if any of you can summon a Nickola!" The older mage said with a clap of her hand, cutting off the children's protests. "You saw how Lu-sensei channeled her magic earlier; see if you can copy that,"

There was a resonating response of 'yes' as the kids did as instructed, shouting over themselves as they wildly swung their arms and attempted to summon something through sheer will power.

"I don't think this is going to work," Lyra whispered into Lucy's ear. "Even if Nickola is an easy gate to open, they simply don't have enough magic for it,"

"Or they do but they can't mould it the right way," the blonde replied, watching as several of the kids surged with magic, but didn't channel it towards the key in their hand. A sudden wailing pierced the air, startling the two from their hushed conversation. They whipped their heads towards the noise, and saw a girl with a good-sized knot on her head, bawling, and a nervous looking boy next to her.

"I should have guessed someone would get hit like that," Lucy sighed, walking over to the two with Lyra and Plue right behind her as Kazumi directed the attention of the other kids back to the task at hand.

She knelt down next to the crying girl, and gently pried her hands away from her face, tilting her head to better see the bruise. "Hmm...it's not that bad. Some ice later and it will be gone in the morning,"

Luckily, the girl's crying dimmed, but instead of stopping altogether and going back to the lesson like Lucy hoped, the girl instead directed her watery eyes towards the boy who had accidently hit her.

"S-say sor-rry Toru," she hiccuped.

The boy scowled in reply, and Lucy's hopes of this incident ending without further conflict fell apart. "No. I won't apologize to a cry-baby like you, Mami,"

"Say it!"

"No!"

"Say it! Now!"

"NO!"

"That's enough!" Lucy cut in, and both of the kids flinched at her sharp tone. She kept them under her glare for a second longer before continuing. "Now _both_ of you need to say you're sorry,"

"What! But I didn't do anything!" Toru protested, his own eyes water at the injustice.

"Even if it was an accident, you should have apologized for hitting her. And it's not nice to call people a cry baby, Toru. Mami, yelling at people won't make them do the things you want. You have to ask politely," Lucy said sternly, but not unkindly. "Now apologize to each other. I won't ask again."

Toru huffed, and spinned so that his back was to the two girls. Lucy felt a twinge of annoyance at the boy's rudeness, but didn't act on it by grabbing him by the ear and giving him a good tongue-lashing (no matter how much she wanted to). Yelling at him would get her nowhere.

"She has to say it first! Otherwise, I ain't doing it!" The boy stated, obstinately crossing his arms.

"Un... Lu-sensei..." Mami whimpered, eyes welling up again. Lucy rubbed the bridge of her nose to attempt to release her on coming headache. She collected herself, giving the girl a reassuring smile and pat on the head.

"It's ok, Mami-chan. Sometimes you have to be brave, and be the bigger person to apologize," the blonde said, though not without feeling like a total hypocrite. She wasn't worng to feel angry at Hisui. But she hated the feeling of being angry and frustrated from grief, and she also missed talking with her friend, even if it had only been a day.

And Lucy had long ago come to the conclusion that what Hisui had done hadn't been as bad as she had made it out to be; while it was foolish to jump into a battle against those kinds of numbers, and while Keren had been already covered by the catapults, the royal Jade had also been under the protection of flying sleeping potions.

If anything, Lucy jumping in after her might have just added onto the problem even more. Watching the little girl gather her strength and walk over to the boy to do as Lucy had advised, the blonde summoner firmly resolved to do the same as soon as she saw her friend.

That is, if Hisui would stop _avoiding_ her for less than an hour.

...and if Lyra would stop teasing her about being so motherly for _five_ minutes.

* * *

Two days. That's how long the shouting had been going on for, more or less. Truthfully, Grey had reached the guild long after it had gotten underway, having accepted a rare mission with his girlfriend out of the country, so they hadn't been there when it started.

As soon as news had reached their ears via a faulty connection over the Lacrima Makarov had given them (which also explained why they weren't already at the guild previous to the call), they had high tailed it over there as fast as they could.

So they had been listening to the screams for sixteen hours, and not forty-five like the rest of their nakama.

Grey scowled from his spot in a back corner of the guild, looking over the thick crowd of Mages, two things not as they should be. First, Natsu was standing in a corner in the opposite side of the room, a blank and dull look on his face as his mind was obviously elsewhere. If the Ice mage didn't know the situation surrounding the severe change in behavior (and dress. Since when did the flame-brain have a god damned _ponytail_?) then he would have assumed he was looking at Natsu's long-lost broody twin instead of the Slayer himself.

Second, and the entire reason for the pink haired fire mage's obvious depression, was that Lucy wasn't there. Even _Gildarts_ of all people was present, yet she wasn't with them as they listened to the screams, and wouldn't be there as they celebrated a new scream taking the place of the old one.

It wasn't right.

It was because of their stupidity, _their_ choices that Lucy was missing an event she had been looking forward to probably the most out of all of them. She and Erza were as close as sisters, after all.

"Grey-sama," Juvia's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, the blue haired woman's eyebrows scrunched together in concern. "Are you okay? If you want, Juvia could get you an iced water,"

Grey smiled, despite himself. This was why he loved his girlfriend - she could read him like an open book, and knew just how to respond to him without Grey having to tell her anything. She knew when he felt like throwing in the towel on the search for Lucy, and she would gently bring him out of whatever destructive rage he worked himself into at the thought of another of his precious people being _gone_.

"Thanks, but no thanks, Juvia," he replied, letting out a deep breath and leaning his head against the corner. He moved over a bit so that she could stand next to him, another raw scream sounding from the infirmary making them both flinch,

"Juvia has to say, she has great endurance," the water mage said simply, watching a flustered Wendy scurry over to Mira and grab a pile of clean clothes before rushing back to her mentor in the infirmary.

"It's Erza we're talking about," Grey stated dryly. "She wouldn't be called Titania if she couldn't withstand pain of this level,"

"You're making it sound like she's up and walking, not bed ridden and screaming her head off,"

Grey sweatdropped, unable to tell if it was sarcasm in his girlfriend's words, or blunt honesty. Even if at the start of their relationship she had literally melted in his arms whenever he did something as simple as pull her in for a hug, the woman had slowly gotten over her extreme reactions around him. Enough so that she could be right next to him, give him sass, and speak her mind at the same time.

And he kinda liked it. It was a nice change of pace from other guild members giving him pitying looks and gloomy condolences.

There was the sound of something snapping, and then a new scream ripped through the air, this one deeper, more masculine, and obviously in pain. Grey felt a shiver run up his spine, having probably a vague idea of what had just happened.

"She broke his hand," he stated, feeling a sense of dread for the future.

"This is Erza-san we're taking about," Juvia repeated her boyfriend's words back at him, a deadpan look on her face even as the trace amounts of humor and concern tightened the skin around her eyes. "Juvia just wishes Lucy was here with us. Without her here, this doesn't feel like the celebration it should be,"

Grey nodded, watching through half-lidded eyes as wizards talked and chuckled while they waited. But every conversation was muted, as though they were afraid of talking too loud and breaking the fragile light hearted front that they had managed to put up even in the face of the glaring absence.

There wasn't much to be done about it, though. Even if they all loved and missed Lucy, even if they missed the one chance to find her, there really was no place every guild member of Fairy Tail would rather be at that moment. As sad as it was, this event took priority over finding the blonde.

Hell, they only thing this _didn't_ take priority over was if they got word that one of their members was in immediate danger; then Erza would yell at all of them, not just Jellal, to go and save the person, probably saying something along the lines being able to wait on them until then.

But there wasn't a point in that now, since they knew that in two months - hell or high water be damned - they would either have Lucy, or they would beat the answer out of the old man. And then the blonde could catch up with the new members of their family, all the while celebrating another win in the Daimatou Enbu.

Grey took Juvia's hand as a final scream, louder than the others, came from the infirmary, a huge smile on her face as they listened as a new, higher wail broke the hush in the guild hall.

And then in typical Fairy Tail fashion, they proceeded to party like there was no tomorrow. Like none of the last few months had happened. Like they already had Lucy back with them.

* * *

Hisui managed to hold out on talking to Lucy until halfway through their stay in Clover town. When she was young, she used to play hide and seek with her (unwilling) maids before big events, so the princess knew how to hide, as years of noble children coming under their watch had turned the palace staff into a squad of bloodhounds when a game of hide and seek was in session.

She wondered the cobblestone streets of Clover Town, enjoying the festive air as the citizens prepared their annual spring celebration, bright colors and obviously clover themed decorations making her forget that - for one moment - she was in the middle of an argument with her best friend. That she had forgotten herself and almost got her country's only heir hurt.

She imagined how that would go over with her father, if she got injured. He would probably throw a fit and attempt to have a Lucy and Arcadios thrown into the dungeons under the castle (again). But she would never know, because she hadn't gotten hurt in the first place. Lucy had seen to that, as Hisui knew she would.

Growing up as the heart of Fiore's political sphere, the royal Jade had to know who she was placing her trust in at all times. And she trusted Lucy as much as she trusted Arcadios and her other advisors, if not more so.

So it had stung when the blonde gypsy had suddenly given her a verbal lashing about something Hisui knew Lucy would do without a second thought. It made her feel like the trust she had placed in the summoner wasn't reciprocated.

But that was absolutely stupid. Lucy and everyone from Fairy Tail was loyal to a fault, as all their adventures Hisui read about before their seven year absence and the events of the last Diamatou Enbu showed quite clearly. But they were also well known for being rash and bold, a combination that had gotten them into many of the fights they were famous for.

Hisui continued walking, finally allowing herself to see what had happened from Lucy's point of view. Truthfully, she was fed up with acting like a kid and giving the person she was having trouble with the cold shoulder; heck, she was more mature than that a six!

She had no actual right to question a more experienced fighter, not even if she was the next ruler of the country, and no matter how much practice she had, it didn't trump how much time Lucy had activly been out there trying to keep herself and her friends alive.

A shiver ran down the Royal jade's back as she came to a halt in the middle of a park, her aimless wondering taking her away from the hustle of the town and to a more secluded place to think. Hisui unceremoniously sat on the clover covered earth, and began idly pulling the grass under her fingers into a woven crown.

What she had done had been stupid, all because she had allowed herself to be caught up in the moment and hadn't taken the situation as seriously as she should have. She knew she was wrong, so why, just _why_ couldn't she bring herself to face a the blonde and apologize?

"You should put stubborn pride like that aside," a cool voice spoke, and the princess turned in time to see Taj take a seat next to her, a mass of wires and gears already being spinning in his hands as he crafted something she couldn't identify. "It'll just ruin your friendship."

"I know, but..." Hisui said weakly, putting the clover crown down in frustration. "I've been acting like a little brat. I wouldn't want to talk to someone who was acting like that, so why would she even bother to listen to my apology?"

"Hmm...you're right," Taj said casually, and Hisui felt her heart stop. "Who wants to listen to a spoiled little girl who can't even follow simple directions directions? Your friends might even be better off without someone like you slowing them down."

Hisui clutched the clover crown tightly, suddenly feeling cold as the orange haired man basically confirmed all the insecurities she had been going over in her head. To make it worse, the Royal jade had _definitely_ developed a crush on him - something about enigmatic boy that appealed to her, even as the majority of her thoughts were about the bandit raid.

"...or at least, that's what I'd say if Lucy _wasn't_ running around the caravan all day everyday, trying to apologize to you. And if you actually were a princess who didn't do a single damned thing to help out, I'd mean what I said," the tinkerer stated, eyes focused solely on the device in his hands. "But you're not, so it doesn't matter."

Hisui blushed at the princess comment, extremely glad the boy had no idea how close to the truth he had just come, but also a little relieved to hear that Lucy was over their fight, and from the sound of it had been for a few days.

The green haired girl gave herself a helpless laugh, shaking her head. "I've been so stupid to avoid her,"

"You'll just have to make up for that as well." Taj nodded, and for the first time since he joined her, looked the princess in the eye. The direct eye contact made Hisui's face regain its healthy pink hue from earlier. "But, uh, anyway I should be thanking you, so...thanks, I guess. For saving Keren, I mean,"

Maybe it was the kind of bashful, embarrassed way he said it, or the awkward yet adorable crease in his eyebrows and pout on his face, but Hisui suddenly could not process more than single syllable words at that moment. Heck, for all she knew, her checks really _were_ on fire, and she wasn't just blushing.

"Erm, um, ah," the Princess tried, but she literally had to shake her head to get her mouth to process the words she wanted to say. "I didn't do much - Lucy did, and even if she did go after me, I shouldn't have jumped in in the first place,"

The saffron haired man shrugged, absently flipping several cogs into place. "But still, you did something. Me and Keren, we've only had each other for close to seven years. I get why she has to be out there on a raid, but if she ever got hurt I'd probably lose my mind out of worry,"

"Your parents...passed?" Hisui guessed hesitantly, trying not to dredge up any painful memories for him. She scooted closer to him, and continued working on the woven crown she had put aside earlier.

"No, we...ran away, I guess," Taj replied, and if it hadn't been for his fingers moving faster than before, Hisui would have assumed wasn't bothered by talking about it. But as it was, she had always been observant, so she didn't continue to push the issue. Instead, they sat in companible silence, each content to work on their own project.

They stayed like that for what might have been ten minutes, before a loud, earth-shaking roar echoed from the center of town to the park, startling the two wonderers to their feet. Immediately, they headed towards the loud sound, screams and surprised shouts also audible.

What they found upon reaching the source of the commotion, was not what either was expecting.

"The hell is that!?" Taj asked, blue eyes wide as he took in the image of the huge, lumiscent lion that was glaring down at a man caught under its massive paws. Then he saw something beyond the lion that caught his attention. "Keren! Lucy! Maggie - what are they doing!?"

"It looks like someone started something," Hisui stated, watching the furious tilt to Lucy's eyes and movements as the blonde gypsy fended off what appeared to be the guards of the man trapped by the lion, how Keren nursed one cheek, and how Maggie huddled protectivly next to her. The green haired princess gave a smirk, arms folding under her chest. "And that Lucy is finishing it,"

"_She_ summoned the lion!?" Taj said in disbelief, hardly noticing that Hisui was pulling him through the crowd towards their other companions. He was too focused on the giant lion, which had released its prey in order to fend off several of the guards. "Those dots on the ground...but that can only be done by a -"

"Gypsy Mage? The leading Gyspy Mage?" The Royal Jade cut him off, a sense of pride selling in her chest as she watched Lucy take out three fully grown men like they were rag dolls. Looks like their hours of practice had paid off. "That she is, Taj. But she wouldn't summon Leo in such an archaic form unless the idiot she's fighting did something really bad,"

"Jade, Taj," Maggie said, looking up to the two teens as they come closer. "Do you think you could help Lucy? That man, the one the lion had wasn't too keen on sharing the street with us traveling merchants and after a small disagreement, slapped Keren. The rest, well, you can guess..."

"That _motherf_-"

"Taj, help your sister," Hisui cut his swear off, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "I think I owe it to Lucy to help her with a fight we can handle."

Before the others could mutter a protest, Hisui jumped into the fray, deflecting a man with a sword coming up behind the blonde. Hisui smirked at her friend's look of surprise, and then confusion as the green haired princess tossed the clover crown at her.

"An apology gift," Hisui said. "For me acting like a little brat and ignoring you, and jumping into a fight I didn't belong in,"

Lucy raised an eyebrow, and neither girl seemed to notice the giant lion swipe at several guards that were coming up behind them. "And yet here we are again,"

"Hey, they're the guards for a local Duke," Hisui protested, pointing out the emblem on an unconscious guard's uniform. "This is totally my fight. Besides, their boss hit Keren. Keren, Lucy. What did she do, accidentally bump into him?"

The blonde summoner sighed, but the exasperated edge to it gave the green haired girl the answer she needed. "Yes, she did, and then he called us 'gypsy sluts' when she turned to apologize."

Hisui growled, eyeing the duke standing behind a wall of guards like the coward he was. Oh, she was so going to knock him down several pegs. Nobody had the right to say that to a random girl, especially not when that girl was _fifteen_ for God's sake. Lucy apparently noticed her plans, and grabbed Hisui's shoulder, doubt but agreement in her eyes.

"While I agree that our fight earlier was stupid and that this prick deserves a good thrashing, are you really going to tell him your identity?"

Hisui thought about that for a second, then a bright idea came to mind. So much for Taj thinking she wasn't a princess. The green haired girl smirked, enjoying the delightful embarassment she was about to dish out. "Nope, not me. Here's the plan..."

"...that's pretty mean of you, but this guy deserves it." Lucy grinned, and twirled the clover crown on her finger before placing it in Hisui's head and giving the girl a nudge. "A princess needs a crown. Now go; I'll get Dios."

Then, over her shoulder at the lion, she yelled before disappearing into the crowd. "Loke! Hold them off until I get back, okay?"

The great, glittering beast gave another ear-shattering roar as a reply, before batting aside several combatants like they were oversized mice.

Shaking her head, the Royal Jade turned towards her own opponents. She wasn't as fast or powerful as Lucy, and the girl might not have had any magic going for her, but she could still kick some ass, if she did say so herself.

She took out some stragglers Leo had left, and then began trying to seperate the duke from his guards. But even if she couldn't the whole point of her plan was to get close enough that he had a chance to see her face. And then Arcadios would come in.

Finally managing to get past the guards (really, they shouldn't have even been called that for how bad they were) Hisui stood in front of the duke, giving him a mock salute and the best shit-eating grin she could muster. "Good afternoon, Duke Bayton. And how are you this fine day?"

Bayton's face turned an unattractive shade of pruce, and he grabbed Hisui by the front of her shirt, having completely no recognition of her, not that he should, since the dukes were hardly ever granted an audience with the Royal family.

"Now listen here, you little harlot -"

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!? SOILDERS, DROP YOUR WEAPONS NOW!" Arcadios's voice boomed over the sounds of the Duke and the fighting. Without question, the palace-trained guards dropped their weapons and stood at attention as the hulking figure of the Royal guard captain strode onto the scene, Lucy following two steps behind.

The duke seemed surprised to see the man, so much so that he forgot he still had the front of Hisui's shirt in his grasp as he adressed the glowering giant. "Oh, captain Arcadios-sama of the Royal palace. What, er, are you doing here?"

Arcadios fixed the man a flat stare, and Hisui noticed that while the guards around them seemed to be distinctly nervous, and the crowd both shocked and confused, Lucy and her sphere hardly able to contain their laughter.

"A vacation of sorts. The princess wanted to get away from Mercutios for a while with a friend. I am their escort and guard, although," he gave both girls a strained glare, to which Lucy replied with a sheepish shrug. "Both of them are very capable of protecting themselves, as they keep telling me."

"It's true, Arcadios," Hisui said simply. "Though we _do_ appreciate your efforts,"

The man gave a long suffering sigh, and Lucy giggled. "I would hope so, Ojou-sama,"

"O-Ojou-sama..." Duke Bayton stuttered, looking along with everyone in the plaza in horror at the girl whose shirt he had a hold of. "Y-you don't mean..."

"Allow me to introduce you to her majesty, crowned princess of Fiore, Hisui E. Fiore herself," Lucy snickered as the duke immediately released his grip on the princess's shirt and hastily backed away from her, as though she was a ticking time bomb.

"Y-your m-majesty, I, I, had _no_ idea, and..."

Hisui held up a hand to silence the man. "Enough. I will not tolerate such a blatant misuse of authority in my presence. And while I was enjoying my time on the road," Hisui spared a quick look at Taj, Maggie, and Keren, and felt her heart squeeze at the shock on their faces. She schooled her face though, and turned to face the duke again. "I think I shall take this matter to my father as soon as possible. Arcadios, arrest him on the grounds of assault and disturbing the peace,"

Arcadios gave a salute over his heart, then moved to secure the protesting duke, ordering the other guards to send word ahead to the palace and to bring a chariot for them to ride in.

In the bustle of bodies that followed, the princess turned once more to look at the three travelers she had befriended with Lucy, and gave them a small, sad smile before waving goodbye, and expecting to never see them again after the carriage arrived, despite how much Lucy was going to tease her once she found out about the princess and the mechanic.

* * *

**So two announcements - one, I've been thinking of putting out another story, and there is a poll on my profile on which you can vote what story I write. Chances are that I'm going to write these stories anyway, but I want to know what most of you (as a lot of you guys added me to their author alerts) would read.**

**Second, because these chapters (6 and 7) were unplanned and written after I had finished the notes for the next chapters, there aren't going to be many mentions of Lucy and Hisui's sojourn with the caravan, except for a passing statement.**

**So I dont want to hear that I just abandoned them - they will come again, but not for a while. In the mean time, I think the reason for Makarov calling all his Mages back is rather obvious, but in case you missed it, you'll see in the next chapter, when Lucy goes back to Magnolia :)**


	8. A star's dance home

**Chapter six.**

* * *

**A star's dance home.**

* * *

Rays of early morning light softly lazing through the grand, arching windows, casting their luminous shadows on the smooth, polished floor decorated with sweeping images of the royal family's insignia in the palace's second ballroom greeted Lucy as she closed the equally grand and intricate wooden door to the room with a gentle 'click'.

Hisui had taken her to the lesser known ballroom months ago, when she had first started teaching the blonde Celestial wizard how to dance like a Gypsy, the strange combination of modern ballet and belly dancing making Lucy feel like the least graceful person on Earthland. So far from how relaxing, how second nature it was for her to move now.

Even after the royal father-daughter duo had merged her physical two training lessons, the blonde Mage had been surprised to find herself waking up early, just after the sun broke the eastern sky, and heading towards this ballroom to begin the day with a dance.

She stood, cloaked in the outfit Hisui had given her and the pale light of the morning sun, absorbed in the bittersweet thoughts of what would happen later that day, when the rest of the palace was awake, bustling with activity, helping the royal family through their day.

Without raising her head, Lucy extended her left arm and left leg, positioning them away from her body while keeping her other arm and leg close. She took a breath, a golden spill marking where her extended foot lay. And then she began to dance, spinning away from where she started, one step, two, pausing just long enough to place another marker.

She continued on like that, her skirt and hair - put up in a loose French braid, reaching all the way to her hips due to that little bet she had with Hisui still being in effect - flowing around her perpetually moving frame, lagging behind just seconds, catching up to her once again whenever she placed her magic into the ground, coning belt and bracelets marking the beat of her movements.

She had gotten stronger, so much stronger in the seventeen and a half months she had taken shelter behind the castle's wall, her training in the arts of her Gypsy heritage having nearly tripled her magic reserves, and her training in the art of fighting giving her a stronger bond with her spirits, new moves to be used in conjunction with them, and a reminder of why she had left home for so long.

Heck, she and Hisui had even _lived_ like gypsies for a while, even if it was cut short because of that Duke Bayton, who was going to be sitting in prison for the next few months, as well as pay a heavy fine once he was out.

The blonde dancer smiled, the back of her hand resting gently on her forehead, legs bent at the knees and spine bent back from the hips. She remained like that for a second, each foot placing a pale mark before she moved on.

She had done this for them, her guild, and for her; so she could have longer with them, that they would never have to be in danger because of her inability to help, that they would never have to watch her slip away in the same way she had watcher her beloved mother.

And finally, after nearly a year and a half away from the _one_ place she had felt she'd truly belonged in, from the people she loved above all else, she had managed to complete her training to such a degree that there wasn't anything else that Hisui could tell or show her.

So now, after the longest time, she would be going home that afternoon.

She stopped, arms pined together at the wrist behind her head, her right foot forward, completing the constellation of the Water Barer. She felt the magic leave her, more than when she had cast the sign of Aries, but less than when she had summoned Leo as a lion, and watched as a baby blue magic circle formed, bringing with it six inches of cool, crystalline water.

Taking another deep breath, Lucy drew upon the water magic she had, magic she still left largely unused, but knew was absolutely perfect for use with this dance. It was almost like there was no resistance to her movements, her steps as unforced and fluid as they had been on dry land, the water rippling, rising, following her like ribbons in a breeze.

She wasn't without her reservations about leaving, though, and she wasn't naïve enough to expect a quiet welcome back. She wasn't sure what to expect when she took that step past the threshold; people could change within the span of a few weeks, so almost two years was more than enough time to be different.

Granted, she was sure she wouldn't be negatively received back into their lives, at least until after her friends were done scolding her about leaving without telling them before hand. But Lucy had to admit, she was surprised, and a little bit hurt, that none of her friends had thought to check for her in the capital city during their secret, not-so-secret search missions for her.

But then she remembered that she, as a Celestial Mage, had a very strong connection to the city from the perspective of other guild Mages, since she and Yukino had closed the Eclipse Gates. Her family would definitely have avoided it if it meant they wouldn't have to see reminders of their pain every time they turned a corner on the newly rebuilt city.

That didn't matter though, since now _she_ would go back to _them_, and hopefully remain there with them for as long as she could.

She had no idea, for all the training in Gypsy magic and tradition she had spent her days grueling over, if any of it had done as Mavis had said and the innate corrosiveness of her Gypsy magic had been rendered, assuring her that her health wouldn't slowly slip away.

Her nervousness reflected in her dancing, the precise steps and whirls becoming agitated, fast, the ribbons of water coiling around her, tightening and getting closer to their caster until it exploded outward, millions of little droplets raining down into the otherwise calm waters of the ballroom, Lucy standing in the middle of the still active spell, panting.

Bringing her right hand up over her head, she made a fist, leaving out her index finger and thumb, her pink Fairy Tail guild mark proudly displayed in the now mid-morning light. She kept that pose, cutting off the magic supply to the constellational spell, making the water whirlpool around her feet, disappearing and leaving not a trace of wetness in the grand room.

If she did indeed have only a few years left, and all this had been for nothing...then she would still go home, capitalizing on each and every day she got with her friends, family, loved ones, especially the moments she would get with Natsu, since he was the one she had missed most of all, and the one she would worry about if she were to pass on.

Bringing her arm down, the blonde spun on her heels, her hair and clothes once more flowing with the motion, and headed in the direct back towards her room. She still had packing to do, after all, before she could leave for the train station, and a green haired friend to say good bye to.

* * *

The first thing Lucy did when she arrived back in Magnolia was head to her land lady's place so that she could give the woman the first deposit of money she had earned from the jobs Makarov had sent her (and barely managed to get done in-between her training) down on her apartment hold, at the same time letting the woman know she was back in town to stay.

After a long discussion detailing when the blonde would make the next few payments, Lucy finally managed to leave, and be on her way home. Despite how tired she was, as traveling long distances was anything _but_ relaxing, the blonde chose to simply summon Plue and enjoy the stroll next to the canal, feeling waves of nostalgia and relief washing over her.

"It's nice to be back, huh Plue?" She asked the small spirit, walking next to her in a way they hadn't done together since leaving home. Besides that time with the kids, Lucy had hardly summoned the little guy.

"Puun," the spirit nodded, looking up at his master with adorable black eyes causing Lucy to smile.

The walk took fifteen minutes, both spirit and summoner drinking in the details of the town they had missed so dearly, taking in the sound of water to their left, the cobblestone streets under their feet, the rows of houses lining their right, and the clear night sky illuminated leagues above their heads and the tops of buildings, lighting their way better than any lamp ever could.

When the blonde reached her apartment, the first thing she had planed to do was take a nice, long, hot bath, but upon seeing the incredibly dusty conditions she would have to clean afterwords, she reorganized her priorities with a sigh.

She reached for her keys, secured on their belt where her golden coin belt was tied off on her hip, removing the key to the one spirit that she could count on to clean up a mess. "Gate of the Maiden, I open thee! Virgo!"

In a flash of pink smoke, the maid spirit entered the room. "Yes, hime? Am I in need of punishment?"

"Uh, no, but I would appreciate it if you helped me get rid of the dust in here," Lucy said, gesturing to the grimy room. "And once that's finished, can you help me put my clothes and stuff away?"

The zodiac saluted, two feather dusters poofing into her hands out of more pink smoke. Together, Virgo, Lucy, and Plue managed to remove most of the dust and dirt that had piled up within the residence, fabrics and sheets thoroughly washed, and the floors, shelves, and tables polished to shine like new.

Once the room was cleaned to her specifics, Lucy gave Virgo the ok to summon their clothes and books to organize, and the blonde nearly choked on the amount of pink smoke the task generated. When she from the coughing, Virgo had already placed all the books in their proper place and was working in the clothes already. Sometimes it amazed the blonde just how suited the spirit was for jobs like this.

After doing her part in getting resettled, Lucy turned to face her spirits. "Thank you, both of you. Virgo, you can go back,"

The pink haired spirit bowed. "Then I will take my leave, hime,"

Another poof of smoke, and then Lucy turned to the little white spirit of Canis Minor. "It's time for a bath, Plue, and then bed; it's already eleven thirty, and tomorrow is the day we go back to the guild,"

"Puun pun!" Plue agreed, following his master as she headed towards the bathroom.

* * *

Lucy paced outside the entrance to the guild, her guild, her stomach rolling and palms sweating out of the nervous anticipation she had over walking the five steps she needed to get through the doors, and into the main guild hall, something she had done countless times before in the past.

She had been there for five minutes already, sometimes a steely look of resolve in her eyes as she made a motion to walk in, and then she would abort it, a frown woven in her eyebrows and a guilty expression on her face as she chewed on her lower lip.

"C'mon Lucy," she said to herself, attempting to psyche herself up to do what needed to get done. "The longer you do this, the longer they have to wait on you,"

That seemed to do it, and before she could rethink her actions, she took the five steps to the large oaken doors, pushing them open and walking in.

The first thing that the blonde noticed was how the noise she made shoving open the doors echoed around the large, open space of the practically empty guild. The normal bustle and chatter of guild members replaced by an alien stillness that didn't belong, and the mission board was almost empty, only a pitiful handful left.

She scanned the room, her confusion growing more and more with each empty table and chair that entered her chocolate gaze. She was about to ask herself why there wasn't anyone there, when she finally spotted a small group of people at the bar, a second after they saw her.

"Um, hello? Is there anything...we...could..." a young girl asked, and it took Lucy almost a full second to see that the small blue haired teen before her with the wide, surprised eyes was in fact Wendy. And she had just recognized Lucy, because half a second later, the Sky Dragon Slayer's eyes poured over, and she rushed towards the wizards she saw as an older sister. "Lucy!"

Said blonde had a beat to recognize the commotion the girl's shout had started before she wasn't paying attention anymore, returning the crushing hug she was getting from Wendy, tears of joy streaming down her cheeks as well at them being reunited

"You're here, you're here, you're here..." the girl chanted between sobs, nestling herself into the blonde's shoulder.

"Yeah," Lucy sniffed, tightening her grip on the teen, assuring herself that that really was the case. "It's good to be back,"

"What, no greeting for us?" another voice teased, tears audible in her voice. "We really missed you too,"

Wendy released Lucy from the tight embrace, allowing the blonde to look up and meet the owner of the voice in the eyes. Her eyes widened, taking in just how much Cana had changed in the months since they'd last seen each other.

The brunette woman smiled, resting one hand on her enlarged stomach and gesturing with her chin to two other women behind her. "And those two have special someones they want you to meet,"

The blonde woman felt fresh tears come to her eyes again, her hands rising to cover her mouth. Stepping out from behind Cana, was Mira and Erza, both cradling protectively in their arms a small, swaddled bundle.

"You're mothers," Lucy spouted the first thing that came to her mind, eyes roaming over the three again to see if she was seeing things, that it was a mirage and staring closer would dispel the illusion. It didn't.

"As of two months ago," Erza said, walking up to the blonde and wrapping her free arm around her, both girls being mindful of the sleeping babe between them. They pulled apart several seconds later, the redhead wiping the tears from her eyes as she lifted the baby up for her friend to see better. "It's good to have you back, Lucy; this little guy has been wanting to meet his auntie,"

"Do you mind...if I hold him?" the blonde asked carefully, not sure if the redhead would let her.

Her fears were unfounded though, because a second later the new mother held out the boy for her to take, adjusting her hold on him until she was comfortable. Lucy stared down in her arms, catching her first clear view of round, apple cheeks, a shock of already spiky red hair, a few shades darker than his mother's, and over the bridge of his little button nose a birth mark that the blonde had only seen on one other man.

She smirked a bit, handing the baby back to his mother. Even if she hadn't seen the two together in the crystal ball, it would have still been obvious. "Jellal, huh?"

Erza blushed, turning her head to clear her throat in embarrassment. "Yeah, it was only a matter of time, I guess,"

"You're telling me," Mira interjected, making their conversation a three-way. "I'd been trying to set you guys up for ages before Lucy left,"

"W-well, Meledy took over that for you when the three of us were on the road," the redhead stated, brushing a finger across her son's cheek. "Otherwise, Orion here wouldn't have entered our lives."

"Orion?" Lucy breathed, remembering the trip where she had told Erza some of the legends behind the constellations to pass the time while the others had been asleep. The Requip mage had listened to the blonde with the usual rapt attention she gave everyone back then, so Lucy hadn't assumed much of it afterwards.

The new mother blinked, then grinned. "Jellal and I were having trouble coming up with a name when he was born, and then I remembered what you told me; how Orion was a hunter, a warrior, who was immortalized in the stars. I take my power from weapons, and Jellal takes his from the stars,"

Lucy smiled. "A perfect name, then,"

"Glad you think so, since we had to talk her out of a ton of other bad name choices," Mira said, gesturing to the Celestial wizard that it was okay for her to take the infant she held. "But it also gave me more time to think of one for this sweet girl here,"

Lucy took the girl, positioning her arms the way Erza had showed her a few minutes ago to support the babe correctly. Lucy was surprised when she saw that the baby was awake, staring at her with big cobalt eyes that contrasted with her hair, a fine shade of platinum blonde.

"Uh, she's awake, Mira," the blonde said, unnerved at being watched so intently. The other women smiled, amused.

"Yeah, Jessamyn has a habit letting you think she's asleep, and then just watch you," Mira smiled, and Lucy found the baby's name to be fitting for the daughter of a white-haired model. "It creeps out pretty much everyone but me and Laxus, who I'm sure thinks she will never do wrong,"

Lucy didn't even blink at the news of who little Jessa's father was, having seen how the couple had progressed when she still had a working crystal ball. When she noticed the inquisitive look the model was giving her, the kind that asked 'well, aren't you surprised?' Lucy explained about the viewing ball. "I hope you guys don't mind...it was pretty hard being away from you all, and this seemed like a good way to see what I was missing,"

Erza shook her head, placing a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder. "Relax, I wish we could have done the same thing, as it would have eased a lot of our worries,"

"Thanks," she replied, looking back down at the infant in her arms that was still looking at her with the same intense eyes as before. "But, I could only see the beginning of you guys dating. I really wish I could have been here for the births,"

_Maybe I can make it up to them_... Lucy thought, before the mischievous gleam in Mira's eyes brought her back to reality.

"It's alright, but if that's all you know..." the barmaid smiled, holding up her left hand and giving Lucy another surprise. "We're not quite dating anymore; as soon as he found out I was expecting Jessa-chan, he went out and came back an hour later with a ring, and a bouquet of flowers,"

"Congrats!" Lucy gushed, handing the soon-to-be-Drayer back her daughter. The blonde looked at Erza, then Cana. "Are the two of you also...?"

The redhead raised her left hand, showing off the simple silver band adorning her ring finger. "He pretty much did the same thing as Laxus, only it was after Meledy and I managed to wake him up,"

Lucy raised an eyebrow. "He fainted?"

"Yep," Erza confirmed, a smirk painting her lips as she recalled the moment.

"Well, how about you Cana?" Lucy asked, turing to the brunette who had been listening to the three talk along with Wendy. "How are you and Bacchus doing?"

The card Mage smirked, proudly pushing her baby bump further out, her maternity shirt rising up enough to show her naval. "He was sort of dazed when I told him, but then he wouldn't leave my side until I was past twelve weeks," she rolled her eyes, though all of the girls could see the fondness in her expression. "He claims he's getting me a ring after the Daimatou Enbu next month, when he plans on trying to prove himself to Guildarts,"

Lucy raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Guildarts knows about you two? How'd he react?"

"Uh..."

"Actually Lucy, we're the only ones who know that Cana and Bacchus are together," Mira said.

"Ah...then how does Bacchus plan on 'proving' himself to Guildarts if Guildarts doesn't know he's fighting the father of Cana's baby?" Lucy asked. "And I still want to know how your dad reacted to the new that you were expecting, Cana,"

The brunette sighed. "To answer your first question, I have no idea how that idiot plans on doing anything against Dad, but I get the feeling he'll surprise us. And as for when my Dad found out...let's just say that he nearly squeezed the kid outta me in happiness before demanding to know who I slept with so that he could kill him,"

Lucy giggled, picturing the esteemed S-class wizard panicking over his pregnant daughter, and her trying to suffer through his fussing with minimal resistance. It made a cute picture.

"But that's enough about us," Mira said, the carefree light in her eyes dimming into one more serious. "Where did you go, Lucy? Everyone in the guild has been looking for you, looking for why you left,"

The blonde let out a breath, looking at the faces she hadn't seen in months, before motioning that they all take a seat in the empty table next to them. "Its, a long story, and just so we're clear, Master and Mavis decided by themselves to keep my location a secret,"

"Then they knew where you were the whole time?" Wendy asked, helping Cana into her seat. Her brown eyes resonated hurt. "But...they saw how upset we were by you leaving. Why wouldn't they tell us?"

"It tyes into the reason I had to be away for so long," the blonde replied. "And I had no intention of actually leaving in the first place until Master called me into his office and asked if I wanted some time away from the guild,"

"About that..." Erza started, making eye contact with the two other mothers and the Dragon Slayer. "We're sorry for how we acted; it wasn't right that we ignored you, under any circumstances,"

"We all panicked when Mavis said you left because of us," Cana continued, petting her stomach. "You should have seen the mob trying to get out of the guild just because everyone wanted to apologize,"

"Everyone, even Nab and I, took jobs to see if we could find you," Mira finished, adjusting her hold on Rumor as the baby squirmed in her arms.

Lucy blinked, the smiled warmly. "You guys don't have to apologize; consider us even, since I unfortunately missed those two being born."

The redhead mother nodded, a small smile on her face. "You didn't miss much, just a bunch of shouting and things getting broken,"

"You're forgetting to mention that you did most of both, as well as broke Jellal's hand," Wendy stated, sweatdropping. "And Mira-san, I'm pretty sure that the guild had no idea you knew those kind of words,"

Lucy and Cana dissolved into helpless laughter, Wendy blinking confusedly between between the two and the blushing mothers.

"We're getting off track," the white haired woman coughed, brining everyone's focuses back where they should be; on Lucy's story of why she left.

"Right," the blonde said, sobering. "So, Mater had noticed I was feeling down, and said I could leave the guild and train for a while until people noticed I was gone. I assumed I would be gone for like, a month, probably polishing up my technique on the whip, or increase my magic reserves."

"So what changed?" Cana asked, since what her friend described was nothing like what actually happened.

Lucy sighed, remembering the exact events like they'd happened yesterday. "Mavis pulled out a book, something she thought would help me train, and in doing so we stumbled on something related to my mother, and my future health,"

She spent the next hour explaining to her friends about the glowing ancestry, how it was the second magic type she shared with her mother that could lead to an early death if she did't utilize it, and how she had spent months doing just that in Crocus, under the guidance of the royal family.

None of them spoke, and even the two young infants remained silent, as though they understood the significance of what the blonde was saying, even if they didn't understand the words.

"Well shit," Cana said, breaking the quietness that had descended around the group. "Now I'm actually glad you left. I'd rather keep you around for as long as possible,"

The others murmured their consent, smiling at the blonde. They would much rather be with than without, as the last year and a half had shown everyone in their family.

Suddenly, Mira got an excited look in her eyes. "Ne, dancing is supposed to be good for losing weight right?"

"If I of all people can get abs from it, then I'm inclined to say yes," Lucy said, raising the sheer shirt she had over the gold-yellow top Hisui got her to give the others a better view.

"Perfect!" the mother clapped in delight, cradling her baby in her elbows. "While I didn't gain a ton of weight from my pregnancy, I still think I could shed some pounds,"

"That does sound like a good idea," Erza admitted, poking a barely there patch of fat on her stomach. "I would like my armor to fit like it always does, as tightness could restrict my movements."

"Well, I don't know about modeling or armor," Cana smirked. "But it might keep my after-birth weight down if I joined you guys,"

"It would," Wendy confirmed. "It would probably help with recovery as well,"

"Then it's settled," the brunette said, eyes gleaming as she grabbed Lucy's shoulder.

"You'll teach us how to dance so we can lose some weight," Erza continued for her.

"Uh..." the blonde stated, not sure what to do since all three of the mothers, and even Wendy looked at her with pleadingly big puppy dog eyes. "I guess...?"

"Great!" Mira exclaimed. "We'll start after Jessa-chan and Ori-kun are fed, okay?"

Before Lucy could say anything to protest, Erza and Cana had looped their arms through hers, and along with the blue haired teen, pushed/dragged her after the smiling white haired bartender.

"Wait, I still haven't asked where everyone else is!" the celestial wizard said, but her friends didn't even break step.

"They're doing last minute training for the Grand Magic Games for the next two weeks until the games begin," Erza stated. "We're not participating, obviously, so at the end of the two weeks we'll hop on a train and met them in Crocus,"

"But I just spent a year there, not to mention twelve hours on a train to leave it!" Lucy whined, and her friend's expressions were a mix of unapologetic amusement and exasperation.

"Your fault for being there so long," Wendy huffed from behind, pushing the blonde forward. "Just know that you'll be teaching us to dance during that time,"

The celestial mage could only sigh helplessly, letting her friends drag her who knows-where in the guild to set up for their first dance lesson. Truth be told, she wouldn't have had it any other way; she was glad to be back home, back with her friends.

And she looked forward to seeing the rest of them as well, even if it meant _another_ damnable set of train rides that everyone would be better off without. For now, she would share what she learned with her friends, and then, later she would plan on what she would do when she saw Natsu and Happy again, in two weeks...

* * *

"It's been settled, then," Makarov stated, looking over the majority of his guild members, most of which were either covered in dirt or bruised in one way or another. It was expected, since the guild had just hosted a tournament-style training camp to decide who would play for them in the Daimatou Enbu.

How the man had managed to find and convince both Guildarts and Natsu to attend was a mystery, but what's done was done, and truthfully, the last thing on any of their minds was the Games. It was all focused on their missing blonde friend, who would supposedly be back in Magnolia after the celebrations in the capital were finished.

If they were lucky, they might actually met her at the Games themselves, but the possibility of that was low if Lucy had managed to avoid them for all this time already.

"This year's team to attend the Games is as follows; the team leader is Guildarts Clive," the third stated, and a hardy cheer ran through the crowd as the cloaked man received congratulatory back slaps. "Following him into the arena will be, Laxus Drayer, Juvia Loxar, Gajeel Redfox, and finally..."

The master hesitated, making many in the crowd frown in worry, and others simply raise an eyebrow. There were only two other people who were suited to have the position, one of which was busy congratulating his girlfriend for on getting on the team with a chaste kiss, and the other one sulking up in a tree.

"...Natsu Dragneel. These five of our mages will be entered into the games next week," Makarov stated, watching out of the corner of his eyes as the Fire Dragon Slayer jumped down from his perch in the tree, stalking away with Happy right behind him. He turned his attention back to the rest of his children, several of whom were watching Natsu walk away. "Until then, all of you should rest,"

The group of mages nodded, disappearing from the clearing they had adjourned in to return to the make-shift camp ground they had set up in the mountains north of Crocus. It was where the B team had practiced for the last games, and a secluded location for them to use.

It was also a good place to keep members like Natsu close, since by the time he managed to sneak off the mountain, Makarov would know he was gone, and it would be time for games anyway.

He couldn't afford for the teen to wander off in order to look for Lucy when the blonde was literally only a few miles away, and the two would be reunited within the next seven days.

Actually, Makarov had no idea if the blonde was still in the boundaries of the capital city at all, or if she had managed to make it back to the guild early like she had wanted. If that was indeed the case, then the former Wizard Saint had even less to worry about, since the girls back at their base would be counted upon to bring Lucy with them when the time came.

But it wasn't Lucy he was worried about; no, Natsu was by far the biggest wild card in the deck he had shuffled eighteen months ago. To a degree he was still predictable, but having his mate leave him had taken its toll on the teen, something seen not only physically, but in the air he gave off.

Makarov had nearly mistaken Natsu for someone else entirely, the tired, jaded edge to his eyes unrecognizable by the master. The look made the previously energy-filled boy appear years beyond his actual age, the only things keying Makarov in that he was still the Natsu he had raised after Igneel left was the pink hair, of course, and the small spark in the boy's eyes that said he hadn't given up yet.

Makarov was half convinced that that look would never leave the boy's eyes, since that never-say-never personality seemed to be an unflappable part of the pink haired mage's core being.

It was for that reason the giant Mage wanted to keep him in his sights, so he didn't have to suffer anymore by looking for a ghost haunting some distant part of Fiore.

In just a week, almost guaranteed, Lucy would be back in their company.

* * *

**Wow, eleven reviews for one chapter - I think that's the most so far! And because reading reviews is a stress relief for me, and I had two tests, another test plus pop-quiz, and then an AP test and another quiz within the last three days, here is the next chapter early.**

**Don't forget about the poll you guys - it will be open until the fifteenth of October, so vote, even if the majority favors FT.**


	9. A game begins

**A Game begins.**

* * *

"I have absolutely no idea how you managed to sit through that two separate times all by yourself," Cana stated as the group exited the bustling train platform, hidden behind some rather cheap disguises to remain inconspicuous until they regrouped with the rest of the guild. The card mage had put her hair up in a tight bun, a sunflower maternity dress making her look like an innocent housewife. "At least we had each other to talk to, and kiddies to entertain,"

"I'm not sure how either, but I am glad that there's only one more for a _very_ long time," Lucy replied, adjusting the gauzy gypsy-styled mask she wore as part of her disguise. She knew she looked really out of place, hair out and her decked out with the embroidered blue skirt and coin belt. She looked like she should be traveling into town via caravan, not train.

Oh well; at least the last caravan she had been a part of wasn't likely to be in town. And she already had experience with strange looks being directed at what she wore.

"You and I both," Mira sighed, looking down at the currently sleeping baby in her arms through fake glasses, her long white hair gathered up under a black sunhat, a matching modest black dress allowing her to be pass off as bookish new mother. "This little one hates moving transportation just as much as her father and the other Dragon Slayers do."

"That just means she'll have her daddy's magic," Erza replied, hiking her gurgling son higher up on her back as he tried to reach for his mom's fake, curly black afro. The redhead had chosen her own outfit, despite Mira's attempted interjection, and the end result was something usually only seen at a disco. Sparkling pants included. "I wish I could know what Orion's magic will be,"

"He should start displaying signs of it in a year or two, Erza," Wendy murmured, grabbing the redhead's glittering sleeve so that she wouldn't get separated, since her disguise as a blind, impoverished youth required her to wrap layers of cloth over her eyes, making sight impossible. "What I'm worried about now is if people are watching us; I can't tell,"

Lucy grimaced behind her mask, avoiding eye contact as another random person openly gawked at the oddball group. It was one thing to be stared at while wearing gypsy clothes with a group of actual gypsies, and another with people dressed even stranger than her. "Yeah, they're looking at us, but I don't think our cover's been blown yet,"

"I suppose we do look like a strange group," Mira said, though she was glad when they turned the corner into a less busy part of the station.

Or so they thought, because instead of only a handful of people sharing the hall with them, they were greeted with a barrage of flashing lights and the rapid fire of interview questions flying around as a group the Fairy Tail women were _very_ familiar with stood being interviewed.

"Sting! Do you think your relationship with your old guild master's daughter has improved how things in Sabertooth are run!?"

"What members are going to be on the Sabertooth team this year, Sting!?"

"Rogue, how are things between you and Yukino!?"

"Orga, how do you plan on taking out the competition!?"

"Does Sabertooth plan on trying to take back the title of number one guild from Fairy Tail!?"

The girls watched the group of Sabertooth mages answered the mob of reporters' questions without giving away any of their actual plans for the Games, causally heading toward the exit, the paparazzi dodging a step behind them.

"What should we do?" Cana whispered, trying to shield her face with one hand while the other hugged her belly protectively, panic in her eyes.

"There's still a chance they won't recognize us," Erza reasoned, placing the pair of sunglasses she had hanging from her shirt on, and pulling her afro further down on her head, smiling at Orion's curious look and babble.

"Let's keep going, then," Mira said, pulling her yawning daughter's swaddling further over her face before adjusting her own disguise, obscuring her highly recognizable features even more. "There's another exit down the hall, so let's try and go around them,"

Lucy nodded, feeling more confident in her disguise than the others. "I'll lead the way, Erza, you behind me since the both of us stand out the most and we'll allow for Cana, Mira, and Wendy to be less noticed,"

The other women nodded, Cana taking the redhead's job as the blue haired girl's guide, sticking close to the disguised barmaid. They kept their heads down, quietly moving behind the buzzing mass of reporters and journalists, slowly making their way past the commotion and towards their destination farther down the hall.

_So far, so good,_ Lucy thought, watching Sabertooth walk on, unaware of them being there. _Now to just keep it up…_

"Watch out!" someone yelled, and Lucy turned, too late to catch herself as she walked right into a bellhop carrying dozens of small boxes.

Before she knew what she was doing, Lucy's body moved on it's own, dancing as she lightly redirected the falling cargo back into the arms of the startled man, managing to not let a single one touch the ground.

Turning towards the still staring bellhop, she clapped her hands together and bowed, oblivious to all the eyes staring at her in her flustered state. "I am so sorry! I should have been watching where I was going, I didn't mean to…"

The man blinked, then blushed, hurriedly shaking his head. "No, it's ok miss, but what you did was - "

"Sorry, again!" the blonde said over her shoulder as she turned away, only now noticing that both the eyes of passer-bys, the press, and Sabertooth stared at her in surprise. She'd done exactly what she had hoped to do in the beginning, though, and that was to take the attention away from her friends, who now stood at the entrance to the other hall, madly gesturing for her to hurry up. "But my friends are waiting for me!"

She ran for the other hall, ducking and weaving around people who could't react and move out of her way in time. From the time she caught the first box until she and her guild mates blended into the shadows of hall that would lead them to an exit, Lucy could the particular gazes of the more powerful Sabertooth wizards, suspicious as they tried to get a read on her.

"No one recognized you, right?" Cana said worriedly, scanning over the blonde's shoulder as they quickly walked away, trying to see if anyone was following them.

"I really, really hope not, since I don't think anyone got a good look at my face," the blonde stated, once again adjusting the mask that covered the lower half of her face, glad she had it on at the moment. "But Saber is definitely going to look be watching out for me later,"

Erza nodded. "We'll have to be careful once we're out on the streets, so that we can avoid a confrontation,"

"You wouldn't happen to know any side routes that might be useful, would you Lucy?" Mira asked as they arrived at the already opened exit, blending into the foot traffic as much as they could. "Even if they all lead to the castle, I would like our odds better if we could get out of the crowd as soon as possible,"

Cana and Wendy muttered their agreements, having to jostle around people in order to keep up. Luckily for everyone, Lucy knew several ways through the alleys and residential sections of the city that would lead to the palace, and for the next ten minutes she lead her friends around the city, at one point having to split up from them because Sabertooth had spotted her distinctive long blonde hair and cultural outfit.

After a chase which only ended after Lucy managed to use some of her new acrobatic skills to cartwheel over Orga's head, landing on a nearby wagon and sending the two hovering Exceeds into confused tail spins as she leapt past them and disappeared behind the top of a near by hotel.

She regrouped with Erza and the others, and it was only another fifteen minutes until Lucy arrived at one of the side gates onto the palace grounds, the guard, the same on she had first talked to when she got to the castle eighteen months ago, flagging her and her guildmates through without a second glance.

Erza raised an eyebrow at the behavior. "They'll just let anyone with you into the palace?"

Lucy shrugged. It was a perk of being like a sister to the princess. "Depends on the guard, since others might just stop to ask your names,"

"How much further are going to have to walk, Lucy?" Cana asked, digging the heels of her hands into her lower back and stretching. "A heavily pregnant woman shouldn't walk so far so fast,"

The blonde smiled, sharing looks with the other two mothers while Wendy shook her head. "Not far, since Hisui should be in the library around now, and it's on ground level with comfortable chairs,"

"Hallelujah," the brunette muttered, following her friend from a staff door into the castle halls, ignoring both the expensive paintings and pottery around her, as well as the curious stares from passing maids and butlers. Moving one hand back, she pulled her hair out of it's confines, the loose waves springing back to full force. "We can get out of these awful costumes, finally"

"Do you think Hisui-san would mind getting us a carriage or car to the hotel where the rest of the guild is staying at?" Wendy asked, reaching behind her head to untie the bandages around her eyes, blinking at the sudden light. "Cana is right, she shouldn't exert herself so close to labor,"

"I don't see why not, but it might be smarter to wait for a bit since she'll be going to the stadium for the qualifying matches," Lucy stated, opening the door to the large library, already scanning the mainly brown room for a splash of bright green hair.

"What qualifying matches? Isn't the maze going to take care of the excess teams?" Mira asked, the events from two years ago replaying in her mind.

"We try and spice it up every now and then," a new voice stated, and the Fairy Tail girls looked to the right, spotting the princess leaning on a railing for the second level of the royal archive. "So this year, a single member of each guild is going to fight in a battle-royal knock-out styled fight until there are eight teams remaining,"

"I see," Erza stated, tossing her fake hair aside onto a nearby table, glasses following soon after. "More fighting from the get-go,"

"Yeah," Hisui sighed, coming down the stairs so they could all be face-to-face. She and Lucy shared a brief hug, glad to be reunited after two weeks apart. "I'm afraid my father has gotten used to seeing melee style fighting from supervising Lucy's training,"

Said blonde winced, rubbing nonexistent bruises. "Is he going to be dressed like the pumpkin again?"

"He says the Games wouldn't be complete without it's mascot," Hisui said, smiling dryly before turning her attention to the four other mages, eyes widening in surprise as she noticed Cana's stomach and the two bundles carried by Erza and Mira. "Holy crap, since when were you three mothers?"

Cana smirked, pointing one finger at herself, then at the other two women seated at the table with her, hardly taken by surprise by the princess's sudden spunk. "Since not until another few weeks, one month, and two months ago,"

The princess clapped her hands in delight, cooing over the infants and their proud mothers for a moment, before a confused line marred her brow. "How come this hasn't been on the front page of every tabloid in Fiore, while Lucy's stint as an acrobat an hour ago is plastered to every newspaper in Crocus?"

Lucy choked, taking a folded piece of paper from the princess, and finding it to be picture taken from when she had used the Thunder God Slayer's head as a springboard with the caption under it reading in bold black '**Mystery Woman Dances Around Sabertooth.**'

"How did this get printed and delivered in the time since that picture was taken!?" The blonde shouted, the paper fluttering to the floor as she pulled her hair in frustration.

The young Sky Dragon Slayer picked it up, bringing it over to the other women, reading the article as she did so. " '_Today, within the streets of the capital and on the opening day of Daimatou Enbu, as the famous wizards Guild Sabertooth was making their way towards the stadium for the Games, they ran across a lone female - it is not known if she has any magical abilities to speak of, but it shall be presumed so until confirmed otherwise - who later managed to elude capture by several of the guild's elite mages, as shown above where she is seen flipping over the Lightning Mage Orga Nanagear, before disappearing several seconds later._

"_It is unknown the reason for both Saber's confrontation with the woman, or her reason for being in Crocus in the first place, but we might see her again as a participant in the GMG. Several witnesses said they have seen her performing in the city before, but always in the company of a green haired woman and extremely tall man. Is she the trump card to an upcoming dark horse? Was the reason for her engaging with Sabertooth to gather information on possible opponents? Are the green haired girl and tall man in her team? We will find out later this afternoon when we kick off this year's Grand Magic Games!_"

"They've totally blown that out of proportion," Cana said, as she and everyone but Lucy, who was still panicking over the fact she was in the papers, sweatdropped. "And they don't know what the confrontation was about my ass; there were reporters when Lucy pulled that stunt in the train station,"

"That was instinct!" the blonde protested, arms windmilling around in circles. "This is different! Now this disguise is totally useless, and when they find out I'm from Fairy Tail, they'll say it was a declaration of war! Not to mention they brought Hisui and Arcadios into it!"

"The outfit can be changed, most of the attention is at you and not me and Dios, and they won't know who you are until the last event," Hisui reassured, earning several strange looks from the others in the room. Chuckling nervously, the princess gave Lucy a sudden pleading look. "I need to ask you a favor, Lucy…"

"And that is…?" The blonde stated hesitantly.

"That you be the the goal of the last event," the royal jade blurted out, getting many raised brows and one giggling baby for a response.

"What do you mean by that, exactly?" Mira asked, giving Jessamyn one of her fingers to play with, the babe squealing in delight.

The green haired woman sighed. "What I mean, is that because the games this year is based off the one from two years ago, the last event is going to have people from each team running around the city fighting, but I want you to be in it, the main objective of the last match being to catch you, extra points being given to opponents they manage to take down along the way."

"But I promised Master I'd regroup with everyone at the games," the blonde argued. "And Fairy Tail is participating; this might be read as cheating to other people,"

"Not really," Cana said, a sly look on her face. "Your guild mark might be back, but it's hidden by concealer and that jewelry," the brunette nodded at the Slave Bangle Lucy wore on her right hand, the decorative chain hiding most of the back. "Not to mention, you haven't spoken with Master in over a period of six months. Officially, you're not a member of Fairy Tail right now,"

"That's how it is," Hisui stated. "Please? If you don't do this, things are going to turn into a slugfest almost immediately between the weaker guilds,"

Lucy was silent for a moment, before sighing. Her friends weren't against it, so what was the harm in doing it? Besides, this was _Hisui_ asking. "Fine, but I still expect a newer version of this disguise,"

Hisui smirked, looking at all the mages before her. "No worries; its already waiting for you in the carriage we'll be taking to the stadium, since I had a feeling something like this might happen."

Lucy glared at her royal friend, blushing at the snickers she heard from behind her at the table. "You suck,"

The royal jade smiled. "I know. And we leave in ten minutes, so let's get going, shall we?"

* * *

"I have to say, I like this outfit more than the last one," Erza stated, uncovering her eyes as the blonde finished changing halfway through their journey from the palace. "It seems more suited for battle,"

"It's the harem pants," Cana said, scooting over so that the blonde had room to sit down.

"I think its the tassel belt," Wendy responded, thinking that the clothing article reminded her of a smaller, layered version of the cloak Yukino wore to the last GMG. "The golden-orange against the dark blue pants and top makes her look serious,"

Mira raised a hand to cover her giggle. "The way you're wearing the bandana and mask reminds me of how Mystogan dresses; not to be recognized,"

"And the orange highlights your hair and skin," Hisui added, pleased that the color pallet she chose worked for her friend.

"Thanks, guys," Lucy smiled, but it was difficult to tell with so much of her face being covered up. "So when we get out of the carriage, I'll be off with Hisui, and you'll be off with your disguises once you meet up with the guild?"

"Yes," Wendy replied, allowing Mira to retie her blindfold and mess up her hair. "I think Erza and Mira-san are planning a big reveal when they're called out,"

"Oh, let me join," Cana asked, bending over her pregnant belly and the space between seats to take Erza's arm. "People need to be reminded that while we're the top Guild, we're also totally unpredictable at times,"

"Sure, it might help take some attention off of Lucy if she's noticed," Mira smiled, thought the blonde could detect a coy edge to it. "After all, Natsu should be the one to unmask you during the last match,"

"Miiiiirraaaa," Lucy whined, red creeping up her face at the romantic idea the white haired woman was getting about her and the pink haired Dragon Slayer. "I've told you guys, even if he and Lisanna aren't together, I still don't think he likes me like that,"

The four other Fairy Tail women smirked, the three that could see giving each other knowing glances. Lucy didn't like it; they'd been doing that since she approached the subject of Natsu a week ago, and the blonde felt rather unsettled by whatever it was that they were keeping from her.

Hisui noticed the looks as well, and Mira grabbed her, whispering into the princess's ear, her eyes slowly widening as the information was given to her. Lucy's eye twitched.

"You'll tell Hisui but not me? How is that fair?"

Mira just winked at her, waggling a finger in front of the blonde's face as the carriage pulled to a stop at the royal family's secluded parking spot. "All is fair in love and war, Lucy,"

The blonde sweatdropped, looking over her shoulder as she followed the jade princess out of the right side of the carriage while her other friends took the left. "I'm not sure if it's either of those, but I'll have to ask you again later,"

The bartender nodded, patiently waiting as Erza and Wendy helped Cana down. "I look forward to seeing the last match, Lucy, and I'm sure you'll know what we're talking about by then!"

Lucy grumbled, waving goodbye over her shoulder to the others, following Hisui as they became surrounded by a combination of palace guards and Rune Knights, escorting them to the balcony that the royal heir and her sister of the road would occupy while watching their king waltz around below disguised as a pumpkin.

"So...Hisui," the blonde started, taking a seat on the balcony railing as her princess dismissed the guards.

"Don't even," the girl replied, eyeing the blonde for a second before looking out over the arena below. It was packed full of spectators, eagerly watching the countdown on the Viewing Lacrima until the games started. "I won't tell, since I don't want to ruin anything,"

The blonde pouted, looking away from her giggling friend and focusing on the countdown instead, as the last remaining seconds ticked down and the audience cheered louder with each until the clock reached zero, and in a puff of smoke, the King - dressed as Mato the pumpkin - entered the center of the arena.

"**Welcome everyone to the Grand Magic Games!**" he yelled into his mic, making the audience go wild. "**This year, we've reached a record number of guilds participating in the Games, one hundred and fifty seven! I guess they all feel confident in the training they did in the two years since the last Games, huh?**

"**But since we can't have that many people in the tournament, let me introduce to you the first event!**"

The crowd roared as the words on the screens changed from flashing zeros to the words Elimination Style Battle Royal.

"**The point of this match is to take out as many other mages as possible, and a half point will be awarded for each person someone takes out! If we call time and there are still more than eight teams left, the total points gathered will determine which teams will compete. We will now ask that each guild send out one participant into the arena to represent themselves."**

Lucy and Hisui watched the events below, pointing out who was from what guild as a little game of their own until the real action started, and in Lucy's case also scope out who her guild would be up against.

"Lamia Scale is smart, sending Sherry in; her doll magic can take out a lot of the weaker mages at once," Lucy said, watching as the pink haired woman did just that, summoning an earth doll the moment Mato said start. "She just got six points right off the bat,"

"True, but if she and Ren would stop flirting, they'd have more," Hisui replied, watching as the Blue Pegasus member went in for a swift kiss from his fiancé, women in the crowd cooing at their cuteness.

"I don't think they can help it…" Lucy stated, knowing full hand how 'love' oriented each of the two mages was. But still, she shifted her attention to some of the other guilds competing. "I think Bacchus put his guild through the grinder over the last few months; I'm surprised they haven't been taken out yet,"

"Them, and Twilight Ogre," Hisui responded, watching as the the mage from that guild battered people out of the way with his giant club. "I think they might take Raven Tail's place as a team this year,"

"You're probably right," the blonde stated, half listening to Chapati Lola - the same announcer from the previous games - as he pointed out all the different fights going on at once. "That Dobengal guy from Sabertooth must be acting as Sting's replacement, since masters can't fight,"

"Yeah, and he seems to be pretty strong," the royal jade replied, before a smile crept on her face. "It looks like your friend Juvia is holding her own; she just got your team another another five points,"

"Her magic is also good for this kind of fighting," Lucy smiled, resisting the urge to cheer out loud for her blue haired friend along with the rest of the guild. "Most of us from Fairy Tail are good at melee fighting, now that I think about it."

"I guess so," the princess said, watching as time was called and the dozen mages left standing froze. "It must come from all the guild brawls you told me about,"

"You're likely right," the blonde said, watching as the points were tallied up with Sabertooth getting the most, two points ahead of Fairy Tail. The other guilds weren't quite as close to each other as those two, but in the end, the same teams from last time, plus Twilight Ogre and a guild Lucy had never heard of had made it past the qualifying round.

The king took the mic again, cheerfully carrying on as though there weren't unconscious bodies being cleared out of the arena all around him. "**Now that the teams have been settled, let's introduce to you who is going to participate in this year's Daimatou Enbu!**"

The crowd cheered, mad in their excitement for the event to begin. The guilds didn't seem phased though, as the teams calmly made their way over to the perky pumpkin.

**"****First up! A guild that can go toe-to-toe with the current champions! If you read today's headlines, you'll know them as the ones who had a run in with the mysterious Dancer! Its everyone's favorite, Sabertooth!**

**"Next, the all females guild that has made quite the stir in the modeling industry during the last year! Men, you'll have your hands full if you ever commit to one of them! Let's hear it for Mermaid Heel!**

**"Following those two, lets introduce the next two at once! They've been allies to the champions for years, one known their beautiful mages, and the other famous for being home to one of the ten Wizard Saints! You guessed it, it's Blue Pegasus and Lamia Scale!**

**"Now the next guild is mostly famous for how weak they were during the last games, despite their wild spirit and S-class mage taking the field! Now they come back, stronger than ever to redeem themselves! Cuatro Ceberus!**

**"These guys used to think they were top dog around the city of Magnolia! That was before the current champions came back from their seven year absence and put things back in their place! Lets give Twilight Ogre a nice welcome!**

**"This is a relatively new guild that popped up just after the last Grand Magic Games two years ago, and their specialty is water magics! They've already made it to the main events, so let's wish them luck! It's Azura Wave!**

"**And finally, the ones we've all been waiting for! They went missing for seven years before coming back to reclaim the title of the strongest guild two years ago! They have a pool of proficient mages to choose from, so let's meet who's on this year's Fairy Tail team!**"

The blonde found a proud smile filling her face as the cheering crowd doubled their efforts, staring at her guildmates as their presence dominated the field, so close, yet so far from Lucy at the same time. She ignored the commentators and king giving everyone a brief synopsis on each teams' members (she knew most of them personally anyway), eyes trained onto a man with pink hair below.

The first thing she noticed was that he had grown out the bottom half of his hair. She never would have pictured the Dragon Slayer to have a pony tail, or had she ever pictured him to actually be able to pull it off with a new, longer tunic-styled coat whose sleeves had gashes where the connecting seam of the shoulder usually was, allowing his bright red guild mark to be seen.

While she noticed the changes to how he dressed, Lucy could also see small physical things that had changed about her best friend that she would never have noticed if she had stayed back at the guild. He was taller, probably closer to Gajeel in height than her now, and more filled out in build, which wasn't surprising, given men typically looked gangly until their mid twenties.

But it was the expression on his face that was new to her entirely, because even when shit hit the fan and exploded in their faces in the past, Natsu had never once lost his hyper, goofball charisma that never failed to make her smile.

Now, that look had all but disappeared from his features, leaving them almost blank as he scanned the crowd, eyes taking in each detail where they settled before moving on.

She inhaled sharply, twisting around and getting off the railing, retreating into the shadows of the inner balcony. She couldn't stand it. She wouldn't be able to handle him looking right at her, probably right in the eyes, and not want to run into his arms.

She didn't notice Hisui follow her from the railing until she felt a cool hand on her shoulder, and heard the calm voice of the princess, her traveling friend and sister. "It's okay, you don't have to meet him right now, and he doesn't know you're here yet. You can still get your emotions together, get what you want to tell him straight, and then go back to them."

Lucy exhaled, slowly letting the air and panic leave her system. She shouldn't have gotten so worked up over something she would have to face in the next few days anyway. "I guess I just missed him more than I thought…"

The royal jade nodded, understanding even as her own eyes shown with a flicker of emotion towards her own crush who was currently God-knows-where in the country with his sister and the caravan. "You've been suppressing your feeling for him for way too long, Lucy, and that includes how hurt you are being away from him all this time,"

"I know…" the blonde sniffed, but put on a brave face as she turned to face her companion. Hisui was trying to help her with this 'long-disatance-love' thing, and she didn't want to repay her friend by breaking down into a sobbing mess. She was stronger than that, damnit. "And I also know that if I'm basically going to _fight_ him in the next few days, then I need to get my shit together,"

Hisui snorted, but was glad the gypsy was feeling better. "Amen. Now lets continue watching; I think that everyone in the audience just noticed there are a few people missing from your guild,"

The blonde smirked, sharing a look with the ruling princess. "Then it's time for their big reveal. This should be good, knowing Cana and Mira,"

* * *

The white haired mother watched sadly as the blonde disappeared from the balcony railing, the girl noticing that Natsu was scanning the crowd for her. She was glad when the princess followed after, both women out of sight when the pink haired man looked in that direction, giving the area a customary once over before systematically moving on.

"I feel bad for Lucy," Wendy stated, following where the barmaid was looking, and Mira could tell her heart went out to her surrogate sister. "Maybe we shouldn't have encouraged her to be a part of the last event."

"She will be fine," Erza said, requiping her disco outfit into her casual sleeveless blue blouse and pleated skirt, her son squealing and giggling in joy at the display of magic. "She's still the strong woman we all know and love,"

"Yeah," Cana agreed, taking off the feminine sunflower dress and exposing the strapless grey maternity shirt she had on under it, along with a pair of matching dark grey shorts. "So let's make this as fun as possible to cheer her up,"

"That can be arranged," Mira smirked deviously, removing her hat and glasses. "Just follow what I say…" she spent the next few minutes outlining the bases of her plan, allowing for Cana and Erza to interject and put out their own opinions. Now all they had to do was wait for the designated signal.

"**...but it would appear that neither Erza or Mira are among the team, or with the waiting members of Fairy Tail! What could have made them decide to not use either of their best mages?**" Chapati Lola asked, turning to his other announcers for support.

Doranbolt, this year's guest from the magic council, followed his co-host's observations with one of his own. "**It would also appear that they're not the only ones; a few others are missing as well,"**

"**I don't see blondie or the little blue girl,"** Flare said, acting as the other announcer due to her prior experiences in the games. "**Fairy Master, where are they?**"

_There it is_, Cana thought, taking a deep breath before shouting at the top of her lungs down into the stadium. "UP HERE! AND YOU ALL BETTER LISTEN UP, BECAUSE WE GOT SOME THINGS TO SAY!"

When the last syllable left her mouth, a close up of their faces appeared on the Viewing Lacrimas, the brunette's arms slung around around her two companions' shoulders, Wendy behind the three since she had nothing to do with the message they were getting across by having Erza and Mira playing with their engagement rings in full view of the camera.

The brunette let a cocky smirk slip on her face, listening to the collective gasp run through the crowd. "We're all taken! So shove off if you don't want our fiancées to go ape shit on you! And that means you, Ichiya; Erza's already taken, so deal!"

Said perfum mage wasn't able to respond, since upon seeing the ring on his beloved's third left finger he had been turned to stone, unable to do anything while the Trimen fussed around him, trying to bring their master back to life amid both the shouts of congrats from women and men howling at the unjustness of it not being them.

"Shut up already people!" The brunette snapped, taking her arms back and crossing them under her bosom. The aggressive nature of the shout did wonders to make the audience stop talking, even if most muttered between themselves, confused. "I said we had 'things' to say, so stay quiet until we're finished!

"Now," Cana continued, her and the other mothers turning their head to look at Wendy, who could now be seen on screen with them. "Let's inform them of our _other_ news, shall we ladies?"

"We shall," Mirajane replied, taking her daughter from the Sky Dragon Slayer, moving the gurgling baby's arm up and down to wave at the camera. "Say hi to daddy, sweetheart,"

Erza nodded at the teen girl, also accepting her child back and angling him towards the camera so he could be seen playing with her vibrant red hair. "In case you could not tell, we have started our families as well as being promised in marriage."

"**Incredible!"** Chapati shouted into his mic, the entire stadium cheering loud enough to be heard for miles around the capital city. "**Not only have they managed to elude the press until this point, but their after baby bodies look as though they never gained an ounce in the first place!"**

The male population of the crowd cheered in agreement, despite the fact that the camera hadn't dipped past the top half of the women's chests at all.

"**But the brown one isn't holding a baby,"** Flare stated, voicing the thoughts of many of the women and men (who hadn't lost their minds to the idea of a female's body) who had noticed the same thing.

Cana sighed, shaking her head as she placed one of her hands on her hips, the other pointing at her belly. "Oi, cameraman, angle it lower,"

"**Nevermind,"** the former Raven Tail member said, watching as the image lowered, Cana's huge baby-belly taking up most of the viewing screen. "**She just hasn't had it yet,"**

"No shit," the card mage rolled her eyes, the camera going back up to their faces. "This is how you deliver the news, people! You in the comment box suck at it!"

Doranbolt leaned closer to his mic, amusement in his eyes and voice. "**Since this is not my full time job, I won't take offense to that,"**

"**Same,"** Flare stated, both guest speakers totally ignoring their other co-host, who sat white in shock at the brunette's words.

"Um, Cana?" Wendy stated, having just noticed a major flaw in their epic plan. "This might be a bad time, but how are we going to get down?"

"Huh," the card Mage said, looking down from the head of one of the four giant stadium statues they were standing on and then at the white haired Take-Over Mage. "How _do_ we get down, Mira? I never thought to ask,"

The collective audience sweatdropped, while some in Fairy Tail facepalmed, and the fiancees of the three women plus one S-class father started to panic.

"Simple," Mira said, a magic circle appearing under her as she grew a pair of wings from her back. Jessamyn noticed them and made a desperate attempt to grab the appendages, cooing in wonder. "Happy, Charl, and Lily can take you guys down,"

"Ah, I see," the blue haired youth said, the two other women nodding as the three cats made their way over to them, having no other choice but to comply with the barmaid's plans. "Thank you, Charl,"

"Less talk," Happy grunted, straining to pick up the heavily pregnant Cana. "More flying,"

* * *

"**Well…"** the king stated, getting over his shock of the games getting interrupted like that. "**I guess that's one way to let the cat out of the bag. But there will be time for celebration after the first official match has ended! Teams, pick one player besides the one who was in the qualifying round to send out!"**

Lucy felt her smile widen even more at the king's dismissal of recent events, but one look at her companion and all her control melted, both girls collapsing into a fit of hysterical laughter.

"Did you see Laxus's face when Mira held up Jessamyn?" the princess giggled. "He even waved back! No doubt he'll be the doting father figure,"

"Forget that; Gildart's face when Wendy asked how they would get down was priceless, with Bacchus coming at a close second!" Lucy laughed, clutching her stomach from laughing so hard. "I swore his guildmates were ready to catch him if he fainted,"

"We should," Hisui giggled, attempting to pull herself together, hearing her father start to announce the new participants. "Probably watch the next match,"

The Celestial wizard wiped a tear from her eye, picking herself back up to sit at the railing again. "Yeah, since you haven't told me what event's are coming up yet except for the last one,"

"No? Well, this one is…"

"**...the Naval Battle!"**

* * *

**No reunion with Lucy and Natsu just yet, but you guys are probably going to both love and hate me in the next chapter...where I included their reunion even though it extended the chapter by like 2,000 words and then ended it.**

**With that being said, after the next chapter, we have officially reached the end of the notes and pieces of story I've got written. Meaning chapters are going to take longer to update. Like, way longer, since the poll for plots is up (FT won by a landslide, no surprise) and I'll be writing the winner of that, as well as another story in another fandom. Sorry, but just think of this as a filler until the next, 8,000 word chapter. Until then vote on the poll on my profile, please!**


	10. A star is caught

**Chapter ten**

* * *

**A star is caught**

* * *

"We have the worst luck." Lucy stated, arms crossed as she stared at the giant bubble of water in the arena center, watching the people in it with an annoyed expression. "I can't believe it; this is just like the race from last year,"

"It's not that bad," Hisui responded, watching as the participants waited for the start signal. "At least Natsu and Jenny have the same handicap; their magic's aren't designed for use underwater,"

"Hardly anyone out there's magic is!" the blonde exclaimed, watching as the member of Cobalt Wave seemed to be the only one confidant in their current setting. "Shelia, Jenny, Risley, and Bacchus's teammate couldn't do anything effective last time, and let's not forget that Yukino can't use Pisces right now,"

"That might be why she looks so uncomfortable," the royal jade said. "And I don't think brute force is going to help Twilight Ogre very much here,"

"When does it ever?"

"I don't know, your guild has sometimes managed change the tide of battle with raw power alone," Hisui said. "I think your just sour about how this event ended for you last time around."

"They're starting," Lucy said, ignoring her companion, worried eyes pinned to the Dragon Slayer's back, his ponytail fanning out over his back and shoulders. He really had changed without her around...

Hisui wiggled her eyebrows. "See something you like?" she teased.

The blonde immediately blushed, averting her eyes. "N-no,"

The green haired woman smiled, rolling her eyes back to the arena. Was it just her, or did it seem like something exciting was about to happen?

* * *

"Natsu-san, I've been meaning to ask, but where is Lucy-san?" the silver haired Celestial mage asked, floating closer to the man, her curiosity outweighing her desire to join the fighting going on in the other side of the bubble.

The pink haired dragon slayer shifted his eyes in her direction, arms crossed as he dully turned back to watch the fight, the Twilight Ogre mage being tossed out of the water like a wet rag doll.

"She's off training," he responded, careful not to give very much away or show any of his battered feelings. "We might see her here later, but we'll likely meet up back in Magnolia,"

"You're kidding me!" a new voice stated in disbelief, and the two mages looked over to see the Azura Wave member floating in the water above their heads. "I was looking forward to meeting her in person!"

The fire mage scowled. "Who the hell are you?"

The man blinked in surprise, before putting out his hand in a friendly manner. "I'm sure that Chapati-san introduced me earlier, but I'll do it again; I'm Thomas Bittlemore, mage of Cobalt Wave,"

"And why do you want to meet Lucy?" the pink haired man growled, ignoring the glance Yukino was giving him, and the extended appendage.

The other mage looked bashful, retracting his hand to rub the back of his head. "I've been a fan of hers since I saw a picture of her in a Sorcerer Magazine years ago; I was hoping to impress her with my performance in the games this year,"

"That's sweet, but why?" Yukino asked, hoping he didn't say what she thought he was going to, if she was reading Natsu's body language right.

Thomas smiled broadly. "Of course, I was hoping she'd agree to be my girlfriend! I became a Celestial mage because of her after all! And, no offense, Natsu-san, but she could do better than you,"

There was a second's pause, and Yukino held her breath as the water around the Dragon Slayer started to boil.

Without warning, a jet of white-hot fire and cackling electricity burst from the pink haired man's mouth, hitting Thomas dead-center in the chest, shooting him through the multi-guild brawl and almost out of the sphere of water. The other contestants back away, wary of getting caught in another attack.

**"Whoa! What happened here!? Natsu Dragneel launches a strong attack against Cobalt Wave's Thomas Bittlemore!"** Chapati yelled into his mic. **"And the dragon slayer seemed uninterested in fighting until this point! Exactly what did the new mage say to get such a strong reaction!?"**

"Natsu-san, please calm down," Yukino pleaded, attempting to hold the mage back from doing something very stupid.

The fire Mage didn't listen, heating the water around him to the point where the silver haired woman had to let go or get burned. He closed in on his target, plowing through the dolphin spirit that had been summoned like it was nothing.

The remaining wizards floated out his way, leaving Natsu plenty of room to engage his foe.

"What's got him so annoyed?" The Mermaid Heel member asked, watching as the one-sided beat down ended with Thomas being tossed out of the bubble and onto the ground. Any longer, and it would have been the Minerva-Lucy incident all over again, and Natsu, no matter how pissed off, was not the kind of person to torture another.

Yukino shook her head in exasperation. "The new guy said something about trying to date Lucy-san,"

There was a hum of understanding as the commentators exclaimed about Natsu's power and questioned his reasons for attacking Bittlemore. It might not have been obvious to people who've never met him in person, but to those who had it was apparent that Natsu had a thing for Lucy, and anyone who got in the way of that was going to get it.

"All I can say is he had it coming for trying something like that," Jenny stated. "But I'm not going to let a protective Dragon take away from Blue Pegasus's chance to shine!"

"No fair!" Shelia protested. "Lamia Scale will win!"

"Keep dreaming!" The Cuatro Cerberus member shouted, charging back into the fight. "We didn't train our wild spirit to lose here!"

Yukino shook her head, a determined smile on her face as she put Natsu and Lucy's love life out of her head, Libra's key already in her hand and glowing as she joined the brawl. She had to make her guild look good, after all, especially with how she had lost during the last games.

She could socialize after the yearly event was over.

* * *

"The most surprising match had to be the Naval Battle," Hisui stated, walking with the blonde through the coliseum halls. "The others weren't as exciting as the one from two years ago, but hey, Fairy Tail is winning,"

"It would be hard to beat such a comeback," Lucy agreed, matching the royal heir step for step. "But you have to admit, Guildarts in Sharpshooting was interesting."

The princess snorted. "That's not what the people behind the targets thought,"

"Okay, so he could use some more control for an S-class mage," Lucy conceded, knowing first hand how dangerous and destructive Crash Magic could be from the times she had witnessed it first hand.

"You're telling me? Besides him and Natsu's battles, the rest of the games could have been interchangeable,"

"Be that as it may, I think this last event should make this year's game one for the books,"

Hisui smirked, pausing as the blonde passed through the threshold to a dimly lit room. "I hope so; I have more than enough of my father in me that I would love to see you leading the participants around by their noses."

The blonde smiled, giving her friend a quick hug in goodbye. "I'll do my best, how about that?"

The royal jade rolled her eyes, turning to walk away. "Whatever – I'll be rooting for you!"

"You should root for a team…!" she replied, calling out after her friend as she disappeared from view. Slowly, the blonde let the smile fall from her face, taking in a deep breath to calm herself.

Lucy could honestly say she felt sick to her stomach. The feeling had been growing stronger and stronger with each passing day, as she watched her guild with pride and anxiety while they once again climbed to the top of the scoreboard.

She had good reason to be feeling like that, too; today was the day. She would see her other friends again, up close and personal, unlike how she had been watching them from afar for the last week.

The blonde let out a deep breath, already in position for when the king announced the last event for the Daimatou Enbu. The knot in her stomach eased up, but didn't leave completely.

She should have been excited; should have been jumping for joy that she was finally, finally going be with her friends, be with Nats-

And there was the reason her insides squirmed at the idea of what was about to happen. She had no idea how this would go, had no idea how he would react. She had left for a year and a half, so for him not yell at her would be wishful thinking, but... Lucy didn't believe she would completely recover if the Dragon Slayer just completely shut her down.

He was her best friend, someone she should know like the back of her hand yet didn't. Not any more.

All because she had to leave. She hadn't even wanted to be gone for that long in the first place; when Makarov had first suggested she leave, Lucy had assumed it would be for two months, maximum, not this monstrously long expedition it had turned out to be.

She didn't even know if it was worth anything - Wendy, for all her skills in the art of healing, hadn't the faintest clue what to look for if the blonde was ill. She didn't know if Lucy was cured or not. Only Mavis could confirm it, but the blonde would only see her after she was caught. After the Games. After she saw Natsu again.

Lucy wondered if Igneel had felt this way when he had left - this crushing guilt, the heavy-heartedness that came from leaving the one you loved the most, hoping, _praying_, they would still accept you when you came back.

Her mind warred with her heart - she wanted to go back to him - so, so, _so_ badly - and at the same time she dreaded ever doing so.

But she knew one thing, and that was she didn't want to be without him in her life. She had already started to reconcile with her friends in the form of Cana, Mira, Wendy, and Erza, so if things between her and Natsu went sour, she could fall back on them for support. And the others, like Levy and probably Happy, would definitely forgive her in time.

She was going to do this, if not for her sake, then the rest of her friends she had left behind as well.

She took in a deep breath, making last minute adjustments to her outfit before stepping forward on cue. As soon as she stepped onto the platform and the light glow of the active transportation spell overtook her, she knew there was no going back anymore. It was better do it like this, without giving herself time to second guess - that way, she couldn't regret her choices later.

* * *

**"Sa! This is a new event to the Games this year!"** Mato stated from the collusiem center, the viewing screens displaying the locations around town of the duos participating in this event.

Or that's what Natsu figured it looked like from the stadium, since he and Laxus were the ones chosen for this match. Like the other seven teams, they were standing in the cleared out market plaza of Crocus, waiting for the pumpkin to finish his ranting and the game to start.

The sooner they ended, the sooner he could look for Lucy again.

**"Being taken from the last event, teams from the participating guilds will battle each other, gaining three points for every enemy they take down!" **The pumpkin continued.** "However! Along with the reduction of members participating in this event, there is something else we've added!"**

There was a flash of smoke from the center of the plaza, and the Mages looked around them in confusion as the rich, heady smell of jasmine and lily wafted from the reaching coils of smoke dissipating around them.

The three dragon slayers snorted, trying to clear the overwhelming scent from sensitive noses. All sixteen wizards watched, as from the thick vapor a shadowy figure slowly emerged, not quite visible enough to be seen clearly.

**"The princess herself has called in a favor from this person to make the last event! Ladies and gentlemen, she's the one who could maneuver her way around a guild of the top Mages in Fiore and not get caught!"**

Orga and Rouge's eyes widened, and the Shadow Mage took a step towards the still hazy figure, his foot half over the edge of the roof.. "You mean, this is...!"

The disguised king cheered, hopping up and down in place. **"Let's give a warm hand to the still-unknown 'Dancer'!"**

The smoke finally cleared, revealing to the fire Mage the poised form a woman around his age, with an extremely long blonde braid extending from the back of the bandana she wore on her head and the mask she wore on her face. The only thing the participants could see of her features was were her eyes, though they were covered in shadow.

The rest of her body was not as conserved as her face, the woman only wearing a piece of dark blue fabric wrapped around her torso twice, then being tied up like a halter top, baggy pants reaching the top of her shins in the same color, and a bright orange belt of tassels around her waist, matching bracelets cuffing her wrists with one of the fabric strands pulled over the back of her hands, connecting to a ring on her middle finger.

And she was barefoot, something that the Fire Mage didn't see an advantage too. In fact, despite the wiry strength he could see just by the way this 'Dancer' held herself, Natsu had a hard time picturing her as someone who could handle taking on over a dozen others at once.

He didn't believe the account of her given on the first day of the games either; news was often greatly exaggerated, and it wasn't like the Lightning God Slayer was the fastest of his companions in the first place. But it did seem like said God Slayer was still pissed at being used as a springboard.

"You bitch!" The wild haired man yelled, barely being restrained by Rouge as he tried to jump out at the woman below before they even began the event. "I'll get you for using my head as a launching pad!"

The Dancer's only reply was a slight tilt of her head in the Saber's direction, which only served to agitate the man even more, tick marks cropping up along his face.

**"It would seem that Orga of Sabertooth remembers this person! Now, I will explain how the Dancer ties into the last event. As well as getting points from taking out opposing competitors, the team who catches this elusive woman will receive a large ammount of points added to their score!"**

Hibiki raised an eyebrow, looking at the screen they had in the plaza. "Just how many points are we going to get for catching a non-wizard woman?"

The Mages felt a shiver go down their spine, the pumpkin seemingly having a creepy smile spread across his face. **"Firstly, she is a wizard - however, wither she feels the need to use her magic or not is completely up to her. Second, the team to catch her will automatically gain twenty points!"**

The sixteen mage's eyebrows went up in shock, and it was Milliana who broke the stunned silence with a low whistle. "That's enough to put Twilight Ogre in first place, which is saying something because they're in last."

"Hey!" The two from said guild protested, but were completely ignored.

"I don't see what's so special about this lady!" A member of Cuatro Puppy stated, voicing the thoughts of his fellow Mages. "It's unfair that the team that gets her automatically wins like this!"

**"We'll see how much you think like that after I start the match," **Mato chuckled darkly, ominously imparting his opinion on the group. He knew exactly what was going to happen, after all, and the king couldn't be more happy with his daughter's plan. **"Now I think we've waited long enough! Let the last match of this year's Daimatou Enbu begin!"**

The first one to move was Orga, breaking free from Rouge's grip and jumping from the roof he'd been on to charge the blonde, his fist cackling with charged black energy. "You're mine!"

Only she wasn't. Even without taking his eyes off the woman, Natsu couldn't see the exact moment she moved out of the way, only watching as the man attacking her hit the pavement instead of flesh. But the green haired man didn't stop there, attempting to land several more blows, all of which the woman expertly dodged without having to change where she stood by more than a foot.

Finally, it seemed she'd had enough, darting out of the way of an electrified axe kick and jumping onto an overhanging sign post ten feet above ground.

Seconds later, she sprung from her perch as the Twilight Ogre Mages attempted to tackle her, flipping once before landing on the roof the two eager men had vacated.

"Obviously," Laxus drawled, crossing his muscular arms. "This isn't going to be as easy as you think if the royal family themselves asked for her to do this, idiots."

"I think we have a chance," Hibiki said, Eve behind him as the two moved closer to their blonde target. "There are sixteen of us, and only one of her. She'll tire eventually,"

The blonde Dancer, having listened to the Archive Mage speak, rolled her hooded eyes, the motion barely visible as she - for some unknown reason - stepped and twirled, small golden spots left from where her feet touched the slanted tiles, more and more becoming apparent until she stopped moving.

Natsu and the others watched as the dots connected to form what might have been two misshapen stick figures, a grey magic circle drawing itself several feet around her.

And then she moved, walking out of the center of the circle as her image splitting into two solid bodies, each pausing a second to look at the other, before continuing the cycle four more times until eight Dancers, one for each team, were standing along the edge of the roof, looking around loftily at the participants.

"Well shit," Orga stated, an uneasy expression on his face. "You were saying, Lates?"

**"And the dancer has decided to use her magic!" **Chapati stated.** "It looks like she's taking this fight seriously!"**

**"A good idea,"** Yajima asked, having taken a seat in the commentator stand, replacing Doranbolt. **"Since she doesn't have to fight sixteen-to-one odds anymore. But what type of magic is that?"**

"We might have a problem..." The Blue Pegasus member stated, archives blazing as he tried to get read on the magic that was just performed for them. Without taking his eyes from the screen in front of him, he addressed the other teams. "While I don't usually like sharing information with enemy teams, I would appreciate it if you guys could keep her busy,"

Milliana raised an skeptic eyebrow. "And why should we? If I were to take out say half of us, it would match the points given by catching her,"

Lyon shook his head, Jura thoughtfully playing with his beard behind him. "Because it's not likely that a single team will take out half the others. And I doubt that the Dancer will let us simply ignore her,"

"While you asses debate it, we'll be taking the twenty points!" One of the two from Ogre shouted, attempting to gang up on the woman furthest to the left of the roof. "It won't matter how many there are if we just take them all out!"

**"And the Mages from Twilight Ogre continue their aggressive strike! Will it pay off or will the allying teams have a better chance!?"**

They converged on their target, magic circles drawn and active as they fired blasts of energy that the blonde sidestepped and danced around like she had done earlier to Orga, effortlessly twisting out of the way as the men almost landed on her, the other blonde next to her pushing one of the two off balance and back to the streets.

The blonde on the far left, the one that had been originally attacked, followed him down, the seven other blondes leaving their one sister behind to deal with the Ogre Mages, dispersing themselves to met with the other teams.

**"Now the real battle begins, ladies and gentlemen!"**

A Dancer took a leap, managing to haul herself onto another roof and launch a kick at Milliana and her teammate in a single motion, the cat Mage and farm girl immediately having a hard time deflecting and parrying the fluid movements of the blonde, who easily dodged Beth's Carrot missiles and Milliana's binding magic.

Gritting her teeth, the cat girl briefly averted her gaze to see how the other teams were fairing.

The two morons from Twilight Ogre had been knocked unconscious, with the same about to be said of the two guys from Cuatro Cerberus, who, despite having done a lot better in the games this year, were totally unprepared to face something like this.

Besides those four, the other teams didn't seem to be having as much trouble landing blows as the Mermaid duo was, though the Cobalt Wave team was loosing ground fast as their water magic was deflected right back at them, because - surprise - besides the whole untouchable fighting and splitting herself into eight thing, the blonde was a competent water Mage!

The brunette grunted, her punch having barely done any damage to the dancer, but leaving her with several openings, which were immediately exploited.

Milliana growled, her frustration lending her agility as on instinct she lashed out at her opponent's face, hands ready to claw the stupid mask off her face. As soon as her fingertips made contact with the orange veil, moving it barely a centimeter downwards, the blonde she had been fighting poofed into smoke.

"What!?" The brunette screamed in surprise, her partner also wearing a thunderstruck look. "You're telling me that if you so much as move her mask that the copy will disappear? That's too simple for how she fights!"

**"Mermaid Heel's Milliana is the first to take down one of the copies! Even in defeat, this Dancer doesn't want us to know she is! Let's see if the other wizards will capitalize on this!"**

"Look out!" Beth shouted, tackling her guild mate to the ground as the blonde that had been dealing with Cuatro Ceberus took the position of her fallen sister. "Damn it, this should have been the event all by itself!"

"Whatever! Why do these clones have such a stupid weakness!?" Milliana asked, rolling out of the way as the Dancer clone drop kicked where she had just been lying, the coin anklets she wore rattling with the force used.

"Say whatever you will," Rouge shouted, back to back with his guild mate as the Dancer that had taken out the Ogre team stepped and whirled around the two, perfectly in sync with her counterpart that they had originally been fighting. "But I'd rather be done with these copies already!"

**"Even with her weakness revealed, it doesn't seem like she's going to go down without a fight."** Yajima stated.

**"Blondie has some good moves..." **Flare agreed with her fellow guest announcer.** "But when smarty over there figures her out, it won't last,"**

"Oi, Lates!" Lyon shouted at the archive Mage he was guarding, attempting to hold off the Dancer that had defeated the Cobalt Wave team by himself, Eve and Jura taking on the ones for Lamia Scale and Blue Pegasus already. "Have you finished researching her magic?"

"Almost!" Hibiki shouted back, ducking as rubble from Jura's earth magic flew over his head. "As soon as I can identify the magic she uses, we'll be able to know what other spells she can cast!"

"You mean besides these copies?" Laxus shouted, dispatching the one that had gone after the Fairy Tail duo, the lightning cloaking his fist burning through the Dancer clone's face mask, dispelling her in a flash of smoke. "Personally, I'd like to see what else she can do!"

**"It would seem that Fairy Tail's Laxus is looking for an even more challenging fight, making quick work of the doppelgänger sent his way! Is the Dancer going to give up her position to give him what he wants?"**

The blonde fighting Lyon paused, turning her head to calculatingly eye the Slayer before she grabbed the Ice Make Mage by the loose fabric of his shirt, and throw him over her shoulder and off the roof. She spared a moment to give the blond Fairy Tail Mage a 'bring it on' motion with her hand, then followed after the silver haired man to the ground below.

Bingo. That one was the original, since the other blondes around the plaza had yet to do anything that might show personality. They had also refrained from doing any magic, which this Dancer was potentially promising.

**"And she does! The real one was fighting Lamia Scale's Lyon, and is now taking on both him and Laxus! Things are going to get hot in a moment, folks!"** Chapati yelled, and the audience responded by screaming along with him.

**"Is blondie going to be okay taking on two S-class Mages by herself?" **Flare asked, eyebrows scrunched in confusion.

**"From what I've seen," **Yajima stated, watching the screens with an experienced eye.** "By how she's fighting, she should be about ranked the same as those two, but as for the wisdom of taking them at the same time..."**

Laxus grinned, turning his head to look at his guild mate who had yet to do anything but watch. "You should do something, you know, Natsu,"

The pink haired man snorted, but headed off to assist the struggling Mermaid Heel wizards with their opponent. At the rate they were fighting, if the fire Mage was serious about leaving the capital before nightfall, then it was better he started pulling his weight, despite a strange feeling in his gut that told him not to fight the Dancer.

"Just make sure that she doesn't kick your ass, Laxus," Natsu stated before the duo was fully out of hearing range of each other.

"I'll say the same to you," he replied, crouching down and then springing across the plaza to met his foe.

**"And Natsu Dragneel joins the fight, heading over to help the Mermaid Heel girls and keep their alligengce intact!"**

**"Pinky finally joins the fight..."** Flare stated. **"It took him long enough,"**

**"I agree,"** Yajima said. **"He's usually gung-ho about joining a fight, but he doesn't seem to as into it lately. I wonder why."**

From what he could see, she was cocky, already engaging Lyon in a fight yet challenging him to join in. That, or she was confidant she could take both of them on at the same time, which, if that was the case, Laxus was better off be safe than sorry.

Sucking in a deep breath, he gathered magic in his lungs before letting the roar loose when the advanced had her back turned.

She dodged, jumping out of the way of the blast of electricity but catching the tail end of an icy bird as the Lamia Scale member shot several of them at her. The blonde seemed to grit her teeth, ducking, weaving, and deflecting against the sudden barrage of electric fists the Lightning Dragon Slayer launched at her, as well as the frozen animals Lyon charged her way.

But she never attacked, only parrying blows to clear the way for a step, then retreating, the places she stepped randomly glowing while she continued her waltz around his blows and Lyon's ice.

"Incoming!" Rouge shouted a second before he joined the melee, shadows streaming from his outstretched leg as his kick barely missed the blonde woman by the tip of her braid.

**"Sabertooth's Rouge makes a dramatic entry into the brawl! The Dancer might not be able to hold out now!"**

**"True," **Yajima said. **"But the same could be said for her opponents as well,"**

"Nice of you to join us!" Lyon shouted, panting as his magic supply started to dip below what was normal. "Is Orga still dealing with one of the clones?"

The Shadow Dragon Slayer shook his head in a no. "He managed to take it out, and then the one I was fighting got him while his guard was down,"

"But let me guess," Laxus smirked as he kicked at the Dancer, only for her to use his leg as a hold, her feet lashing out and catching him in the jaw before she jumped off, dodging a chunk of hastily crafted ice as it was hurled at her. The blond rubbed his jaw. "You got the clone after that?"

"Yes," the black haired man replied, catching the foot at his stomach before the Dancer could move it, lungs already filling up with a roar that he released a second later.

The blonde leaned back, the stream of whirling black energy soaring right over her head and instead hitting an unsuspecting Jura as he made his way to try and help them, having defeated the two copies that had been after Hibiki. Now only two of the blonde women and eight participants left.

**"And Jura is out! Three points are awarded to Saber, but will their alliance break with this!?"**

**"If I didn't know better, I'd say blondie planned that out."**

"Great going!" Lyon yelled, rushing over to his fallen teammate, glaring at the Saber as the blonde broke free of his grip.

"Sorry!" Rouge yelled, his focus split between matching the blonde dancer's up-ticked speed with his temporary ally and talking. "There was no way for me to know he was going to be there!"

Lyon scowled, shifting his frustrated gaze to the archive Mage. He swore to god if the next thing he heard wasn't what he wanted to hear, he was throwing whatever alliance he had to the other Mages out the proverbial window. And it would help that none of them had ever agreed to anything. "Hibiki! Are you done yet!?"

"Yes!" The archive Mage shouted, and all the Mages who heard him gave a slight cheer as at least one thing went right. "And you should get out of there!"

**"Blue Pegasus's Hibiki has finished his analysis of the Dancer's magic! But it would seem he's discovered something to be wary of!" **Chapati Lola stated, leaning over the desk as he paid the screen his undevided attention.

**"Maybe she's casting something dangerous?" **Flare suggested, she too trying to see what was wrong.

**"But then we'd hear her say something, or see traces of the magic,"** Yajima replied.

**"Then what do you call the glowy dots?"**

"What-do-you-mean-by-that?" Laxus ground out, blocking the repetition of kicks the blonde Dancer launched at him, using her hands rotate herself like a top. For such a delicate looking woman, she sure had one hell of a kick.

"Those marks on the ground mean she's casting a spell!" The archive Mage said, watching as the screen he was staring at blinked rapidly in warning. "And she's almost done marking down this one!"

The Dancer gave Laxus one final kick, flipping away from the man, the spot she landed on glowing as the other, scattered dots connected to each other, a brownish red magic circle encompassing the bizarre net of lines.

**"I told you..."** Flare said smuggly.

**"I've never seen a type of magic like this before," **The owner of Eight Islands stated, fuzzy eye brows raised.** "The closest I can think of was the magic preformed by Fairy Tail's Mystogan last year, at the end of his fight against Jura."**

**"But that still required him speaking an enchantment." **Lola argued. **"So what's going on here?"**

Rouge and Laxus immediately back tracked, the Shadow Dragon Slayer stoping to help Lyon move Jura out of the circle's range, and several feet further back as the the enchantment began, a furious light spilling from the ground before explosions of fire shot forth, rocketing around the plaza and destroying anything they came in contact with.

**"A devastating display of both power and forethought on part of the Dancer!"**

"What the hell is this, Hibiki!?" Milliana shouted from behind Natsu, the fire Mage eating the jets of flame that came too close to them and the unconscious Beth. "Tell us what her damn magic is already!"

"Celestial Magic!" The Blue Pegasus Mage called out, one eye closed against the extreme heat of the fire as he watched the blonde woman dance through them, unharmed. "She's using an ancient form of Celestial Magic! Basically, she can trace out the constellations and summon their power!"

"But she never spoke an enchantment!" Lyon protested, recalling the few fights of Celestial Mages he had seen, mostly the ones from the last games. "I'm pretty sure that that's required for all forms of stellar magic!"

"Not if she's summoned the magic enough times!" Natsu shouted. Despite the pain the next words out of his mouth would bring him, he continued his explanation. "Luce told me once that the more familiar you are with a spirit, the easier it is to summon - I'd guess the same thing is applied here, only with constellations,"

**"That makes sense..."** Yajima said thoughtfully. But this magic sounded like...it clicked. **"This is..."**

Flare tilted her head in confusion.**"So blondie can use the same magic as the other blondie?"**

**"No, not in the slightest,"** Yajima stated, disbelief obvious in his voice as he observed the blonde woman, taking in her cultural attire and fluid movements. There was hardly a doubt. **"This magic is very different from the Celestial magics we have today, and so old that it can't be classified as just a 'Lost magic'."**

**"Then what is it?" **The redhead asked.

**"A Forgotten one, a magic that hasn't been in practice since the founding of Fiore. A Lost Magic can be searched for and used by anyone - what she's doing cannot." **the old chef stated, refusing to say another word on the subject even as the other hosts prodded him with other questions.

"When the hell did you get smart!?" Milliana yelled at Natsu, absolutely nothing making sense at this point. First opposing Mages working together with no set terms of agreement in a game where they would be better off taking each other out, and now the pink haired man had a brain? What was next, the blonde woman turning day to night?

"That doesn't matter!" Hibiki yelled, making his way over to the other two Mages on a roof, Eve defending against stray bolts of fire after them. "What does matter is that she has dozens of spells like this at her finger tips!"

"Great," Laxus said sarcastically, rolling out of the way as fire exploded behind him. "Any ones we should be worried about in particular?"

"Any of the Zodiac ones," the Blue Pegasus man stated. "She's already used two of the twelve - the copy one was Gemini, and this one is Sagittarious."

"That doesn't explain the fire!" Rouge yelled, hands running through his hair as the fires singed his bangs.

"The sign of Sagittarious is fire - the spirit is the archer!" Milliana screamed, dodging one of the last bits of flying fire as the spell in the plaza finally died down. "Anyone who's read their horoscope knows this! Hibiki, please tell me that these spells eat huge amounts of magic and she can't use anymore."

**"It most defiantly wouldn't be good if she was able to continue on like this," **Yajima agreed.** "No one would win,"**

"That depends," the pretty boy said, eyeing the condition the Dancer was in, and around the plaza and surrounding roofs to see if she had cast anything else without their noticing. "I'd say no, she couldn't, since she seems to be tiring, but if it was night, then yes,"

"And that's particularlly important why?" Eve asked his companion, his breathing shallow and hair a mess from constantly casting magic.

"Because these spells would be stronger, and easier for her to cast,"

"Then let's hurry and take her out," Natsu growled, just noticing that this event had dragged on for much longer than he had originally planned. He could just jump off the roof, rip off her mask and be done with it. "This is starting to get annoying,"

"Don't," Hibiki warned, watching as the blonde woman was engulfed in a soft glow, a star traced into the ground under her. "She's casting something,"

"What the...!" The cat girl shouted in alarm, the spot she had been standing on erupting into a gold star like the one down in the market plaza.

The seven remaining Mages watched as three other pentagonal stars lit up around the areas where the Dancer had engaged them in battle.

"Now what?" Rouge grumbled, staring with suspicion as the glowing shapes detatched themselves from where they were drawn, rising to float high up above their heads.

The glow around the dancer brightened even as the other Mages could see the evident strain in her body language as she stood, arms raised to the sky, palms flat like she was holding a massive weight.

The five glowing stars moved, spinning counter clockwise as they drew closer together, meting together over their caster's head. Then, slowly they seperated, connected by glowing lines as an expanding pentagon was drawn over the blue sky, replacing it within the limits of the golden boarder for a deep, deep blue stained with the green tint of the Milky Way, and speckled with pieces of light.

**"This is unbelievable! Never in my years have I seen something like this ever happen at a Grand Magic Games!"** Chapati shouted in amazement, him and the entire audience spellbound by the sight above their heads. **"The Dancer has done the impossible! She has brought Night to the entire capital of Crocus!"**

**"It's so pretty..."** The former Raven Tail member said, head tilted as far back as she could make it without losing her balance, eyes fixed on the thousands of twinkly lights above her.

"I jinxed it!" Milliana cried, her hands grabbing fistfuls of hair as she watched the star and pentagon spread, like a portal opening the way from day to night, the midday light dimming as the sun was blotted out, replaced by the bright moon.

The dancer didn't waste a second despite her obviously exhausted state, hopping and twisting as she rushed through the steps of Gemini before her opponents could react. When she finished, she spun on her heels and bolted, image splitting into six, all going in different directions.

**"How does she not have magic exhaustion from casting such a spell?" **Yajima asked, his eyes wide with surprise.** "She should at least be on one knee!"**

**"Blondie has a lot of magic," **Flare replied.

Hibiki swore, turning to chase after the blonde that scattered in his and Eve's direction. "Split up! The one who manages to get her is the one who wins - I'd rather not have to deal with this anymore."

"You and the rest of us, Hibiki!" Natsu yelled over his shoulder, not looking back as he followed his dancer, her blonde braid flickering under the pale light as they both vanished into the shadows of the city.

* * *

Natsu panted, the past thirty minutes of hard, non-stop running and fighting starting to wear on him. Staring at the person on the roof across from him, the Dragon Slayer at least knew he wasn't the only one almost ready to bit the bullet.

Grudgingly, the Salamander had to admit he was impressed with how a woman who looked like she belonged anywhere _but_ in a fight had managed to match him blow for blow, and almost always get a head of him, making the chase drag on until now when it should have been over with ages ago. When he should have been back to looking for Lucy.

Natsu spat, a glob of flaming spit splattering onto the tiles. He should have taken this seriously from the start. Now he was angry at himself for not.

But it wasn't like his opponent was a slouch either - the last time he had seen someone fend off against odds like that _alone_ was Erza's turn in Pandemonium at the last GMG. Judging by the condition of the several other Mages before they had all split up, Natsu wouldn't be surprised to learn if he was one of the last competitors standing.

If he was the last one left, it would mean that the event either wasn't set to end until _someone_ managed to catch the blonde, or there was a tie for first place that had to broken with the twenty points she was worth.

And it was just Natsu's luck he knew that this was the original blonde, since none of the copies could cast magic (from what he had observed), yet he'd seen the woman in front of him throw plenty of different spells at him. Oddly enough, she could use minor spells of most elements, yet she hadn't once thrown a fire spell at him directly, even though fire was the first destructive art wizards tried to learn for combat.

"Oi, do you think you could we could end this, or do you still plan on running?" The pink haired man snapped, the blonde wizard having just taken a single step back and Natsu swore if had to chase her any more that there would be hell to pay, the nagging feeling in his gut about the woman be damned.

The blonde recoiled, but Natsu couldn't tell if it was from the glare he directed at her or by what he'd said. Whatever it was, it snapped her out of the internal deliberations she had been in and back to their confrontation.

She crouched, springing across the narrow ally wy between them, a foot pulled back in preparation for a kick. The fire Mage ducked out of the way, catching the blonde by her other ankle and bringing her to the ground again.

She caught herself, jerking her leg free as she cartwheeled away from his reach. Natsu sprinted after her, hands and feet streaming fire as he engaged in a martial arts battle with the blonde, her moving out of the way of his hits and him blocking hers.

"You're still running, miss coward!" The pink haired man accused falsely, attempting to see if he could bait the silent woman into taking one of his punishing hits.

She didn't seem to appreciate his efforts. She landed a clean front kick on his jaw, a prominent tick mark on her bandana covered head as the fire Mage stumbled back. Natsu grit his teeth, knowing that that would be a black and purple mess by tomorrow.

Sucking in a deep breath, he filled his lungs with magic before letting a jet of fire out in a powerful roar in retaliation. The dancer dodged, sidestepping along the edge of the roof as the flames died down and Natsu broke his cover, his fist charged and at the ready.

Surprised, the blonde barely managed to throw her arms up in an X over her face, her teeth grinding together at the heat from Natsu's fire. Her whole style revolved around her ability to not get directly hit by heavy blows. Though her actual defensive skills weren't that bad, Natsu was known world-wide for his power.

The fire Mage smirked. "Gotcha!"

"Nugh..." The blonde groaned, straining to push him back. She took one step back to gather her strength, only for her foot to miss the ledge and her stance to finally be compromised by the momentum of the Dragon Slayer's punch. "Ah!"

"Oi!" Natsu shouted, instinctively grasping the woman's arm as she fell over the side of the building. He heard an 'oof' as she slammed against the wall, temporarily disappearing from view as she went under the roof's outcropping before coming back in sight, her free hand cradeling her head.

The Slayer attempted to raise her back up to his level to continue their fight, except he overestimated the strength left in the building under his feet. The outcrop failed from too many of his attackes from earlier, dropping the two Mages down three stories towards the cobblestone street below.

"Shit!" Natsu swore, his instincts once again directing his actions and before he knew what he was doing, he had the blonde woman pressed against his chest, positioned over him as he cushioned the blow for her.

The pink haired man swore up a storm in his head as he felt the air rush out of his lungs, the impact jarring him and the blonde, but probably only giving him a bruised rib. Thinking quickly, Natsu took advantage of the fact that he had managed to trap the dancer, even if he had for some reason been trying to help her.

He twisted, using his heavier body weight to hold his quarry down before she came out of the shock of falling three stories and started fighting him, her arms pinned by one of his hands above her head, and his knee on her stomach keeping her from landing any kicks.

"Now let's see who's under that mask," Natsu said, his free hand reaching up to tear the gosmar fabric away from the blonde's face. In a single motion, he removed it, and the dancer opened her brown eyes to see his reaction.

"L...Lu..." He tried for words, his eyes eyes as wide as saucers as he took in the face that had haunted his thoughts and dreams without rest for the last year and a half. Heart shaped face (though it had slimed down a bit since he'd last seen her), full lips, small nose, wide, rich cholocate eyes that filled with tears as they took in his face with the same hunger in wich he had devoured her features.

It was her. She was here, in his arms, and it wasn't a dream, or a spell, or someone else. _He had finally found her again._

A drop of water splashed onto Lucy's face, but Natsu didn't register that he was crying, since the woman before him also had water running from her eyes. He raised his hand up to cup her chin, thumb wiping away her tears as he brought his forehead down to rest on hers, eyes never leaving hers.

"Lucy..." He croaked, the overwhelming relief of feeling her near him, of _being_ with her again making him have trouble breath. It was only through his sheer joy for those same reasons that he managed to force words out of his mouth. His face split into his signature grin as what had just happened started sinking in.

"Found you..." He whispered.

The blonde sniffed, before a smile of her own over took her face, the tears falling from her eyes thicker than before. "I'm home, Natsu."

Those three words did him in. He took a deep breath, her natural, sweet scent only detectable under the scented smoke from earlier at point blank, before he tilted his head and did something he had waited far too long to do.

He kissed her.

* * *

**And there is the reason you all will want to kill me. But hey, they've been reunited! And you got to see the results of Lucy's training (which I hope is realistic). And Natsu kissed her. The next chapter is already in the works, so please be patient. There are a bunch of little rough patches I'm going to have to go back and smooth over. But only the best for my readers ;)**

**Speaking of which, thank you to Oldtime Scribe, who continues to give great constructive criticism, and to ****Etcetera-Gal, who reviewed every single chapter last night**. And also everyone single one of you awesome people who leave your opinions for me to take into consideration. (And to let me know how much you like my story).

**Don't worry - I'm not saying goodbye. Just wanted to let you all know how appreciated you are. I read every review and notice every follow and favorite.**


End file.
